Posted on 05/31/2012 8:17:22 PM PDT by ExxonPatrolUs
Fargo Forum: A man who moved from Florida to Dilworth last summer admitted today that he allowed his 32 ball python snakes to freeze to death in an unheated storage unit in Glyndon last winter. “I just couldn’t find any place to put them,” 50-year-old Henry Ward Atherton Jr. said in Clay County District Court. Atherton pleaded guilty to all three charges against him: one felony and two misdemeanors counts of mistreatment of animals.
USA Today: Sightings of raccoons are down 99.3%, opossums 98.9% and white-tailed deer 94.1%. According to Linda Friar with Everglades. National Park, park personnel have captured or killed 1,825 pythons since 2000.
***...he allowed his 32 ball python snakes to freeze to death in an unheated storage...***
So? The standard method of killing large numbers of starlings is to locate their roost on a cold night, spray them down with soapy water. The soap breaks down their natural oils allowing the water through to the skin, and the cold weather will kill them by “exposure”.
give the man a larger shed and all the ice he can use
Killing birds that way seems cruel and painful - but killing a cold-blooded animal? It doesn’t shiver, just goes torpid and doesn’t wake up. I’ve euthanized sick tropical fish in the freezer.
Waaaiiiit a minute....
Is this an Obama Campaign contribution thread???
Find out who he sold them to and if any snake is missing charge both the seller and the buyer under statutes exactly as is described for selling automatic weapons. IMO.
Python, the other white meat ;)
I’ll put this as kindly as I can,
You Sir, are an uninformed, ignorant person. Get eductaed, just a little. BALL Pythons are not the 20’ animals you seem to be referring to. They are small, timid animals.
Freedom of speech even allows uninformed speech (Almost like over at DU).
People who must have these "pets" should not release them into the wild. IMO.
Though not huge they nevertheless are a threat to traditional pets like cats and dogs. IMO.
There should be accountability. IMO.
Hey Sal, maybe a chance to educate someone here....
That is what my original reply was about.
In some cases the offense should be treated the same as leaving a loaded gun lying around. IMO.
You seriously expect me to “educate” ignorant, heartless morons?
And no, they don’t just “fall into a torpor and die peacefully.”
Freezing them considered the -most- inhumane way of euthanizing *sick* snakes, let alone healthy ones.
They suffer just as much as a puppy or kitten would.
Freezing fish is also incredibly brutal.
The again, I’m obviously not dealing with biologists, here.
Everyone who laughed, mocked or gloated about this act of soulless cruelty is a sadistic, cowardly, phobic prick, IMO.
[so, do you want me to say how I “really feel”?]
My comment was about loosing snakes. That in some cases makes those puppies and kittens subject to death worse than freezing. IMO.
If that makes me one of the "ignorant, heartless morons" in your opinion than I accept that as a compliment.
(Though you did not address me specifically you were asked to "educate" me specifically. Thanks. But no thanks. I said that I object to releasing snakes into the wilds (public?) and do not see what makes my opinion so controversial.)
“Though not huge they nevertheless are a threat to traditional pets like cats and dogs. IMO. “
Are you mentally deficient or just too lazy to use Google?
The “biggest” Ball Python on earth can barely gag down a medium sized rat.
Due to the fact that they are essentially _totally defenseless_ against all predators, they live in terror of even the tiniest dog.
A feisty little rat will cause them to ball up and hide their heads, in hopes that the rat will find them boring and just go away.
Keep your fear, ignorance and Freudian phobias to yourself and stop spreading stupidity.
Forget the sissy Ball Pythons.
Fear The Gunner Boas:
Is that an ammoconda?
FYI, the VAST majority of the pythons inhabiting the ‘glades currently were “released” by Hurricane Andrew back in 1992 from a VERY secure, high dollar breeding facility through no fault of the owner.
The number of snakes ‘released’ by owners is puny compared to that mass release from a destroyed facility.
The numbers of “missing mammals” is also a bogus figure padded by politicos and animal rights freaks.
For all that there are “bajillions of them running loose” down there, the professional hunters seem to be having a very hard time *finding* them.
Stop believing the liberal media.
Try a little [politically unbiased] research into the situation.
It’s also common knowledge that the photo of the ‘exploded’ python/gator was staged.
The gators are definitely winning the food chain foot race.
LOLOL!
I’m stealing that.
That was positively *inspired*!
;D
Comparing a ball python to an automatic weapon officially makes you the biggest idiot to ever post on the Internet. IMO
Quite an accomplishment! IMO
Congrats! IMO
I'll throw in one more IMO so you understand that I am mocking you too.
Now them you gotta keep an eye on..............
No reply to my original issue.. loosing snakes. So is it OK to release a ball python because they grow to less than five feet.. most are around four feet?
Is it OK to just let one loose? Shouldn't the owner be discouraged from releasing snakes of any size?
IMO the one who loosed the snake should be subject to laws similar to ones that prohibit leaving firearms laying around. The degree of punishment can depend upon the nature of the snake. But punishment for loosing the snake there should be. IMO.
No insult will ever convince me that a loose and hungry ball python would never attack a kitten that it happened upon.
Maybe the adult cat could kill the small python but I have seen film of big cats and big pythons go at. No way could the python swallow the big cat but they still went at it.
When ballistic pythons are banned, we’ll still have Rock Pythons.
cute.
I don’t think pythons would make it in NM, but we do have sidewinders. And yes, they sound just like in the movies.
Since you’re too lazy or thick:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/24/us-usa-pythons-everglades-idUSTRE81N24120120224
I don’t think anyone should be cruel enough to let any animal loose in the wild.
I also don’t think anyone should be stupid enough to compare a small and defenseless critter to an automatic weapon.
Apparently you know nothing about snakes but appear to know something about kittens. So which would you rather have if involved in a gun fight, a kitten or a gun?
You do know that the military isn’t issued kittens or ball pythons when going into battle don’t you? There is a reason for that.
My last reply to you was made before I read this explanation.
Yes the "‘exploded’ python/gator was staged." I did not believe it when I saw the photo.
Pythons would not but you do have indigenous Boas, such as the Rosy Boa.
The brutal facts are that *none* of the so-called ‘invasive pythons” can survive outside the relatively small area of the Everglades.
The recent cold winters have drastically reduced their populations because the snakes -absolutely require- very hot, constant temperatures to survive.
We’re talking 80s-90s, year round.
A lengthy drop below even 70 degrees is lethal to them.
They are *never* going to spread beyond the subtropical area where they are currently found.
Their normal habitats have 100+ degree days and 80+ degree nights.
*All* of this is just political BS being pushed by the usual liberal, control freak suspects; peta, HSUS and moron politicians eager to assuage the fears of their cowardly, brain-washed and superstitious constituents.
*Only* snakes which -hibernate- can deal with the climates commonly found in the US.
No Pythonidae or Boidae hibernate.
Ever.
The “original issue” was a moron murdering his BPs in a cruel manner.
*You* brought up the knee jerk straw man of “releasing snakes”.
Why in hell would you, in your wildest fever dreams, ever imagine I’d countenance such an egregious act?
To ‘release them’ is to effectively doom them to a lingering, terrible death.
“IMO the one who loosed the snake should be subject to laws similar to ones that prohibit leaving firearms laying around.”
You are almost wonderfully irrational.
“No insult will ever convince me that a loose and hungry ball python would never attack a kitten that it happened upon.”
And spectacularly ignorant of reality.
How should I rationally continue this debate when you are so irrational and woefully ill-informed?
Were I you, I’d stop watching the scary sake movies on the SyFy channel.
FYI, a good size Burm can swallow and entire sheep, horns and all.
However, the sheep is a prey animal, not a predator, such as a cat.
[are you are aware that the *biggest* ball python still has a head the size of your thumb? they’re flexible but not magical]
That was exactly why I pinged you to the thread, actually. In hopes maybe even ONE person might believe it from someone who’s handled tame snakes, someone who they trust.
They interest me more and more, but I simply don’t have the sort of firsthand experience to speak authoritatively, and you do.
And to whoever it was upthread, I don’t look very kindly on ANY tame animal being tossed out. They’re domesticated, not wild, and it’s not going to end well for beast nor human.
The weather where I am is a bit extreme. Last week I had a day at 85 and it hit 29 that night. All at 10-15 percent humidity.
Take care my FRiend.
Again, GET EDUCATED.
They are pets, not just ‘pets’, as much as any other.
Yes, you are entirely correct, these pets, as well as ALL other pets, should not be released into the wild, especially if not their native habitat. You’ll get no arguement from me there. Floridas Python and Anaconda problem should be met with hunting/extermination efforts. People who knowingly release these animals should take a beating with sticks.
No Ball Python is a threat to human or cats or dogs, though if you keep mice or rats, you may have an issue. Just because a Ball Python is a Python, does not mean anything about what the animal might be or its threat to you are other pets.
Get away from fear.
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