Tiger or Bobcat?!? Shark or Guppy?!?

Been laughing at this headline all day and thought I’d share it…

Tiger or Bobcat…Shark or Guppy?!? I don’t know but it was one of them…Holy Crap Batman, are people seriously that stupid?!? “We have people and homes here and we don’t want a tiger roaming.” Yeah, a quote straight out of the mouth of a prosecutor -HELLO!!! Does anyone?!? I really hate dumb!!! And with statements like this and headlines like this one, it leads me to believe that what I really hate is dumber than dumb!!! Get an education people before making stupid statements to the press and worse yet, the press buying into it and putting it in print…

http://suwanneedemocrat.com/local/x1561260007/Bobcat-or-tiger

January 16, 2012

Bobcat or tiger?

Staff Suwannee Democrat

Live Oak — The Suwannee Democrat has received numerous calls over a mysterious cat-like image that was captured on a camera in the southern part of the county last week. The talk going around is that there is a Bengal tiger on the loose from a game farm off CR 129 near the sighting.

However, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said the animal captured on camera is more likely a bobcat. While the game farm off CR 129 has tigers, FWC ensures us that all the cats there are accounted for.

“The photos are inconclusive. The bioligists who have examined the photos believe it may be a bobcat, but because of poor quality of the photographs, it is difficult to make a positive identification,” FWC spokesperson Karen Parker stated.

Parker said that an FWC official went to the site Thursday, Jan. 12, but due to rain the day before, the officer wasn’t able to find any tracks.

“He has instructed the landowners on how to prepare the ground and preserve any tracks that may be found,” said Parker.
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On a more serious note, but just as dumb is the new snake ban…yep really going to do a lot to help with the current situation. We need  megaphones and tell those snakes they have been ban…they have to leave now…Sorry but this ban will do nothing for the current environmental problem now or in the future; what’s done is done. These snakes can not survive the winters in climates that mean certain death north of the Everglades…I just want to know how much it cost to get this ban in place. OMG…it’s a snake…is it a garter or one of those pythons!?! How about they do REAL scientific research before creating a ban!!! This means certain death of a large number of animals and loss of livelihood for many throughout this country.

http://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/Salazar-Announces-Ban-on-Importation-and-Interstate-Transportation-of-Four-Giant-Snakes-that-Threaten-Everglades.cfm

01/17/2012

Contact: Adam Fetcher (DOI) 202-208-6416
Valerie Fellows (FWS) 703-358 2285

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has finalized a rule that would ban the importation and interstate transportation of four nonnative constrictor snakes that threaten the Everglades and other sensitive ecosystems across the United States, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced today.

The final rule – which incorporates public comments, economic analysis, and environmental assessment – lists the Burmese python, the yellow anaconda, and the northern and southern African pythons as injurious wildlife under the Lacey Act in order to restrict their spread in the wild in the United States. It is expected to publish in the Federal Register in the coming days.

“Thanks to the work of our scientists, Senator Bill Nelson, and others, there is a large and growing understanding of the real and immediate threat that the Burmese python and other invasive snakes pose to the Everglades and other ecosystems in the United States,” Salazar said. “The Burmese python has already gained a foothold in the Florida Everglades, and we must do all we can to battle its spread and to prevent further human contributions of invasive snakes that cause economic and environmental damage.”

The four species were assessed by the U.S. Geological Survey as having a high risk of establishing populations and spreading to other geographic areas in that agency’s 2009 report, Giant Constrictors: Biological and Management Profiles and an Establishment Risk Assessment for Large Species of Pythons, Anacondas, and the Boa Constrictor.

Sixty days after publication of the final rule in the Federal Register, interstate transport and importation of live individuals, gametes, viable eggs, or hybrids of the Burmese python, northern and southern African pythons and yellow anaconda into the United States will be prohibited. None of these species is native to the United States.

“Burmese pythons have already caused substantial harm in Florida,” said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe. “By taking this action today, we will help prevent further harm from these large constrictor snakes to native wildlife, especially in habitats that can support constrictor snake populations across the southern United States and in U.S. territories.”

Ashe said the Service will continue to consider listing as injurious the five other species of nonnative snakes that the agency also proposed in 2010 – the reticulated python, boa constrictor, DeSchauensee’s anaconda, green anaconda and Beni anaconda.

Most people who own any of these four species will not be affected. Those who own any of these four species of snakes will be allowed to keep them if allowed by state law. However, they cannot take, send, or sell them across state lines. Those who wish to export these species may do so from a designated port within their state after acquiring appropriate permits from the Service.

The Burmese python has established breeding populations in South Florida, including the Everglades, that have caused significant damage to wildlife and that continue to pose a great risk to many native species, including threatened and endangered species. Burmese pythons on North Key Largo have killed and eaten highly endangered Key Largo wood rats, and other pythons preyed on endangered wood storks.

In the Everglades alone, state and federal agencies have spent millions of dollars addressing threats posed by pythons – an amount far less than is needed to combat their spread. If these species spread to other areas, state and federal agencies in these areas could be forced to spend more money for control and containment purposes.

Interior and its partners, including the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), South Florida Water Management District, and others are committed to controlling the spread of Burmese pythons and other large nonnative constrictors. For example, FWC recently implemented the use of a “snake sniffing” dog to help in its efforts to find and eradicate large constrictor snakes. This dog was present at the Secretary’s announcement today, along with a 13-foot-long Burmese python.

Under the injurious wildlife provisions of the Lacey Act, the Department of the Interior is authorized to regulate the importation and interstate transport of wildlife species determined to be injurious to humans, the interests of agriculture, horticulture, forestry, or to wildlife or the wildlife resources of the United States.

For more information on injurious wildlife and efforts to list the four species of snakes as injurious under the Lacey Act, please visit: http://www.fws.gov/invasives/news.html.
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Artificial Evolution “Be Afraid…Be VERY Afraid”-HA!!!

~ by topcatsroar on January 17, 2012.