# Man gets four months, snake gets life



## slim6y (Sep 7, 2011)

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/5581498/Feilding-man-jailed-for-snake-smuggling

So snakes have made it into NZ - if there's one... there's more!

A jungle would not survive for long in the Manawatu region - winters are very cold... But in some of the warmer northern regions where there's still plenty of native birds (and some aussie imports too) - I think a carpet or a diamond could easily survive.

However - it scares me that NZ has a similar climate to habitats where some tigers could quite easily live - it only takes one idiot to have a country that already struggles with an invasion of ferals being over run by a new predator!


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## Nighthawk (Sep 8, 2011)

Definitely more than one. I had a massive argument with my husband when I told him snakes weren't allowed in the country and he was genuinely shocked to find out they were illegal. Turned out when he lived over there as a kid back in the 90s he visited a mate who had a rather large carpet python at his house. He never thought anything of it (he was a kid, didn't know the laws at all) until I corrected him.
This was in Hokitika.


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## longqi (Sep 8, 2011)

Another interesting thing is that there were no mammals recorded in NZ until after the Moriori or Moa Hunters arrived
Scientists can find no trace of mammals before about 600AD 
Maoris arrived much later and quickly removed the Moriori from the picture as they were farmers and the Maori once were warriors
Since humans arrived over 40 species of flightless birds have become extinct there
Mainly due to cats rats dogs ferrets weasels and pigs that man brought with him

Unlike Australia very few Kiwis will ever see a wild national emblem [kiwi]
While in Aus you can see kangaroochies everywhere


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## slim6y (Sep 8, 2011)

longqi - not 100% correct, there are populations in both islands of native bats.

Also fur seals, sea lions, leopard seals etc - though not exactly terrestrial mammals. 

The bat was NZs ONLY mammal!


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## Nighthawk (Sep 8, 2011)

longqi said:


> the Maori once were warriors



Lol, I see what you did there... do you know how many Aussies I've had ask if NZ family life is really like that movie? Also once had a guy convinced for about half an hour (until he saw my husband trying to stifle his laugh) that the South Island had no electricity, or cars; we still got around with horses and carts and lived in thatched huts.

Also, it's a bit of a fallacy to say that Maori tribes were all warriors. Most primitive social structures had warrior people, but they were also known farmers and hunter/gatherers. The warriors more often had tools in hand than mere or taiaha.


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## big_dad_13 (Sep 8, 2011)

its good they busted the the bloke but why do they put the poor snake down why not sent it back, but pack him up nice.


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## traceylee (Sep 8, 2011)

I am from the Waiarapa region and my mother has just moved from the Manawatu (Feilding to be specific ) region! I just sent her the link.... she's gonna flip - she can't even look at pictures of snakes without freaking out; she's gonna hate me!


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## slim6y (Sep 8, 2011)

big_dad_13 said:


> its good they busted the the bloke but why do they put the poor snake down why not sent it back, but pack him up nice.



Risk of disease etc - not worth the risk at all!

Snakes can't be kept in NZ - even in Zoos (even in the reptile park zoo in North Auckland). 

The closest thing to a snake in Auckland Zoo is a legless lizard!!! 

It's funny to stand at the legless lizard enclosure to hear how many people say - ooooh look - a snake!

So Auckland Zoo gets away with having a legless snake.... 

I think 4 months isn't a bad sentence - but for some reason, it's only a mild deterrent... It's quite a serious implication for NZ if snakes were to go wild. 

Many years ago (1950s) there was a serious talk about releasing mountain lion into the South Island to begin to control feral deer and goats. 

Stoats, ferrets, rats, mice, cats, possums, etc etc have all taken up large wild populations - if snakes would feed exclusively on these I'd say release them! 

But we have so many endangered flightless birds that would be much easier targets for snakes. 

Guam is a classic example of this with the BTS - however, I don't think a BTS would survive a South Island winter.


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## cement (Sep 12, 2011)

When i was at Auckland zoo I said "hey, you need some snakes" to the keepers, and their faces melted!
"imagine if it escaped...blah, blah..." yeah right, What if the lion escaped, or the rhino, or the chimps!
I am sure if they can keep the african big 5 locked up they could keep a snake. 

They simply don't understand snakes that's all. They have some pretty weird ideas about them, and thats the zoo staff.

I went bush and saw blue ducks in their natural habitat, as well as finding a live/active kiwi burrow, and i gotta say that the way the zoo was keeping their blue ducks was so far from natural it shocked me.

But it was funny seeing the blue tongue lizard, as they are so common here. And i liked the tiger enclosures.


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## kawasakirider (Sep 12, 2011)

slim6y said:


> Risk of disease etc - not worth the risk at all!
> 
> Snakes can't be kept in NZ - even in Zoos (even in the reptile park zoo in North Auckland).
> 
> ...



How come the television show "The Zoo" was Televising a new Zealand reptile keeper at the zoo with BHP's then? They said they were captive bred in Australia and they only had hem on a loan.

Also, I know beardies and bluetongues are common pets in nz, but are they legal? My gf is a kiwi and her relatives have a bluey.


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## slim6y (Sep 12, 2011)

kawasakirider said:


> How come the television show "The Zoo" was Televising a new Zealand reptile keeper at the zoo with BHP's then? They said they were captive bred in Australia and they only had hem on a loan.
> 
> Also, I know beardies and bluetongues are common pets in nz, but are they legal? My gf is a kiwi and her relatives have a bluey.



Blueys, water dragons, beardies - all 100% legal...

I can't answer about the loaned BHPs - all I can say is there's no permit allowing snakes into the country.

- Cement -

I can't defend the NZ govt for what they do or don't know about snakes.... All I can say is - a ;ion escaping from the zoo will do more damage to ferals and humans than it would to native birds (i think).

I also would assume that a lion would be easier to find and perhaps slower to breed - though, this is only a thought - their rationale is possible far from my beliefs. 

Not sure what a rhino would do on the loose in Auckland... But I BET it wouldn't appear in your toilet at your apartment...

Snakes are elusive... Difficult to find when escaped... unless you have a spotted python like my old one - she escaped and I caught her trying to get back in! This scenario would not happen if a snake escaped in Auckland.

People are more aware of rhinos and lions (and plus it would make for an interesting hunting story for those going after deer) and they're much less likely to cause hysteria - snakes on the other hand... Look what they do to people in a country FULL of them... now imagine them in a country where people are ill informed and have never seen a snake before (except for when Steve Irwin was alive).


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