Some ppl have no idea!

[SnakeWrangler]

Greg, the point is if one or two people are left to keep these exotics then eventually there will be three, four, five, etc... and this is the problem. It has everything to do with the discussion, this is the reason we would dob someone in, because we don't want to see things like this happen.

 

[Gregory]

It's too late now.
If exotics were only now being brought into the country illegally then I'd say fine, let's dob everyone in, but it's been going on for many, many decades. It now needs regulation, not dobbing some poor sod in cause he has a bloody Corn, for Christ's sake. That's not gonna solve a thing.

 

[Fuscus]

What's that got to do with dobbing someone in cause you heard they have a Corn? Two totally different scenarios.

Keep on track old mate. You'll be right.

I will explain it very simply for you. Last century people thought that bringing in a few exotic animals will do no harm, now most native animals are very scarce or extinct because they have either been displaced or wiped out by the newcomers. Think of what Australia would be like now without the fox, cat and rabbit ( especially the rabbit, as it allowed the other two to spread).
Now, a hundred years along, you would think we would have learnt the dangers of exotics and most of us have. But some still think that they know better and insist on keeping proscribed exotics dispite the dangers and damage to the enviroment that have been demonstrated again and again. You have already stated that they may be establishing feral populations.
Now if you know of someone that is keeping illeagals you are AIDING AND ABETTING not only the keeper but the smuggler as well. If the corn snake establishes itself and wipes out the diamond python then you will carry as much blame as the others, prehaps more because you should know better.
And on a short term view, if the government feels we need more inspections because of exotics then there is a cost to be borne, possibly via general taxation but more likely to be via higher fees for keeping reptiles under the "User pays" system.

 

[Gregory]

You don't need to lecture me matey. I understand fully the problem with ferals. I haven't walked around for 42 years with my head up my ....Language?... like some. I'm talking about the do-gooder notion of dobbing people in. It's not done here. Plain and simple.
You can trot out any old rhetoric you like. Where I'm from, it just aint done.

 

[hugsta]

This has been quite an interesting read, two sides, two opinions.
Fuscus, you said

without the fox, cat and rabbit

personally I would be more worried about the cane toad, I'm not saying the ones you mentioned are any less detrimental to our enviroment, but the can toad, I would think, has a more direct affect on our herps as this is one of their food sources.

And on the topic of dobbing in,
I believe everybody out there, whether to their knowledge or not, knows somebody that has done something illegal. Be that the first time they smoked pot, took that pencil from the RSL club put out for keno players. Petty crimes aren't they, so would you dob in because you found out a work mate/friend of the family etc. smokes a little bit hooch every now and then.
If you do then you have issues. Millions of people do illegal things everyday, some not even realising.
I just think people are forgetting the big picture here in regards to an exotic. If exotics were not here then i think you could justify harsh penalties but they are. Instead of scaring people into hiding their exotic collections they should be doing more to control those that are here.
Exotics will be here for a long time and having an amnesty will not fix the problem. I am against exotics but I have an understanding of why ppl don't want to hand in theit beloved pet just to be killed.

 

[Ramsayi]

What about some poor sucker who knows bugger all about snakes? Buys a corn from the bloke down the pub after being told its legal to have etc etc?
Would the Fred Nile look alikes ride up on their high horses to make sure that the sucker who bought it copped the huge fine and everything else that would come with it?

 

[SnakeWrangler]

Hugsta, the devastating effects that exotics can have on our environment and wildlife are the reasons that people with them should be reported, they don't need regulating, they need to be eradicated, of course this means innocent animals die, but the blame for that lies on the people who had them illegally. You cannot compare the effects of one illegal activity that effects almost always the person commiting the offence with one that effects living creatures that have NO abilitity to protect themselves against it, remember it's our native wildlife that suffers.

Ramsayi, that poor sucker is responsible for his own actions, he should, just as anyone should, make sure what they are doing is not illegal.

 

[Fuscus]

What about some poor sucker who knows collector of insects all about snakes?

if you know collector of insects all about snakes you shouldn't buy one on a whim. These are the people who are the most likly to dump the snake or let it escape.
For the record, I spent six months studing, getting licences and cages before purchasing my first snake.

Hugsta,
All the crimes you mention are trivial - keeping exotics threatens the ecosystem.
As for dobbing, greg - Are you saying I shouldn't have dobbed in the person I saw breaking into next doors car?

 

[Tommo]

i agree with fuscus about the person who bought a corn without knowledge of it. a person is responsible to learn about what pet they are getting

i remember in the paper afew months ago about a lady in melbourne who had a exotic permit. around the area that she lived people had dobbed on others, mostly children on having corn snakes. all the people busted all said that some lady sold it to them and told them they where legal. they checked it out and the lady with the exotic permit and found that she had several breeding pairs of corn snakes. this proves that if people dob on others for keeping illegal animals then it will at some point leads to a source of where the animals are comming from.

 

[hugsta]

MY arguement is not that they are trivial, it is that it happens all around us. Unfortunatley exotics are already here and there's nothing we can do to change that. While ever people breed and people buy, you will never stop it. Drugs are illegal yet the government sets up a shooting gallery at the cross, so does this make it right. Of course not.
As I said before I don't agree with exotics as I know of the dangers they can create if they were to get into our enviroment.
I also don't agree with dobbing in anybody that "mentions" they have them.
I once handed in a number plate that I found on the ground to the police. After being questioned for almost 2hrs as to where i got the nunber plate from etc. etc. ,they were virtually trying to blame me for something I had nothing to do with, I vowed never to do something like that agin. I tried to do the right thing and then I was the guilty party.
So you wonder why ppl don't dob in others for petty crimes.
If it was someone steeling the neighbours car, I would call the cops without question as you can see the crime happening.

 

[Gregory]

As for dobbing, greg - Are you saying I shouldn't have dobbed in the person I saw breaking into next doors car?

That's the most ridiculous statement yet. I'm not even gonna qualify it with an answer.

 

[Guest]

Man Adam..your the one who needs to get a life and grow up

 

[Slateman]

I had ilegal cornsnake for 5 months my self.
I had no idea about licencing and snake was sold to me by man who come to me in my business and ask me if I would like to buy a snake. I loved the animal becaose snake was so timed and easy to handle. That was my first snake . When I find out about licencing, I did the right thing and aplied for one. Poor corn snake had accidental end when my friend took the snake for drive and did not closed box properly.
I did this 4 year ago, and I do not feel like kriminul.
And I understand that many people do not like to report this type of activities. Many people do have only one corn snake as pet for they children with out knowing they do something wrong.
I personally would not get involved with out knowing more about it. The man can have the snake legaly. I know few people who do have permit to have them so do not jump to conclusion.