Hmmmm...Interesting News Story!

[Julirs]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...es-purchased-orlando-20110128,0,5408492.story

One good comment on this story...

""What are you in for?" "I kilt mah whole family wif a axe!...You?" Oh I imported roaches!"

 

[warpdrive]

what a sad story. I mean, what's the big deal. Florida has a roach problem? go talk to a New Yorker.

maybe I should move to Florida and open my new field...Warpdrive Bioloicly Friendly Extermination.

got roaches, we send over a few geckos to save the day. safe for children.
got wild fruitflys? we come by with a few tubs of mantids...in 3 days, you'll be fruitfly free.
got houseflys driving you crazy? we stop by with 3 chameleons and in a day or two they wil be all gone.

for total peace of mind with no cheimicals or toxic agents, we at Wardrive Extermination saves the day at your home today.

Harry

 

[Olimpia]

Yea, that's unsettling for many Floridians on this forum. It's the first I'm hearing of any sort of punishment for having them.

 

[fluxlizard]

Was the punishment for importing the roaches or for importing the roaches under falsified license?

 

[ajacobson]

He was punished for "... forgery of a public record certificate, fraud and introduction of pests affecting plant life." Although the roaches are a problem, he was so harshly punished for the fraud and forgery lol

 

[fluxlizard]

I wonder how dubia could be harmful to florida's ecosystem. Don't they prefer rotting stuff in the wild?

 

[Cainschams]

Yea, that's unsettling for many Floridians on this forum. It's the first I'm hearing of any sort of punishment for having them.

Why is it unsettling? If you are not allowed to have them dont keep them and you dont have to worry about any sort of punishment. No matter how stupid whatever law is you have to follow it. If you dont want punished for breaking a law dont break it

 

[JohnnyD]

Lot's of bad pub for the reptile industry in Florida. First the wild python issue and now this. Imagine the reaction of a non reptile person reading this story.

 

[pssh]

Technically exotic roaches are illegal in most states.

I don't see why people who reside in Florida don't just keep the legal species! In many places you can just go out to the woods and find some! I had to pay for one of my species that you can find in Florida! Cost an arm and a leg for something you guys can get for free.

 

[danmar26]

Florida, especially the Everglades has long had a problem with non native species being introduced intentionally or by accident for decades. These alien species have started to disrupt the delicate ecosystem in the Everglades. Case in point the Burmese python which has moved to the top of the food chain. I applaud the officials in Florida getting tough with the guy buying roaches. However a broader list with a stricter set of laws of which non natives species could be imported should have been in place decades ago. For every person like this one caught there is probably 100 who get away with it. With the drug trafficking and illegal immigration issues in Florida, not enough resources are dedicated to stopping the illegal import of non native species. Education on the issue seems to be the best hope.

 

[Chris Jury]

Importing a banned species is foolish. Forging documents to do so is patently idiotic, and felony charges make lots of sense. Time and time again introduced species all over the place have caused severe ecological damage. Unfortunately, usually there's no way to know whether an introduced species will be relatively benign, or cause serious damage to the native ecosystems (and the services they provide) until said species becomes established, at which point the organism becomes exceedingly difficult (if not impossible) to erradicate.

As above: there are many species in FL that are already established that would serve a similar purpose, it's unnecessary (and clearly quite stupid) to break the law.

cj

 

[jrh3]

1. they are illlegal because they can survive in the florida climate and they dont need another species to offset the food chain down there, which will in turn deplete more of FL's natural habitat.

2. The law is the law, you break it, you are a criminal. Its plain black and white.

 

[Olimpia]

Unfortunately, dubias are the only roaches that don't climb out of containers and they are pretty slow, some of the reasons they're considered the #1 roach in this hobby from the impression I've gotten. I'm not justifying anything, I'm just saying it's the first case I've read about of someone actually getting in trouble for it. Although yea, forging documents was an even worse idea lol

 

[pssh]

DISCOIDS!!!!!! they are completely legal in florida, are just slightly bigger than dubia, reproduce at the same rate, can't climb or fly, and are pretty much just equal!!!!!

 

[dlegare]

Florida, especially the Everglades has long had a problem with non native species being introduced intentionally or by accident for decades. These alien species have started to disrupt the delicate ecosystem in the Everglades. Case in point the Burmese python which has moved to the top of the food chain. I applaud the officials in Florida getting tough with the guy buying roaches. However a broader list with a stricter set of laws of which non natives species could be imported should have been in place decades ago. For every person like this one caught there is probably 100 who get away with it. With the drug trafficking and illegal immigration issues in Florida, not enough resources are dedicated to stopping the illegal import of non native species. Education on the issue seems to be the best hope.

I get very frustrated with FL and the protection of wildlife. On one hand they prevent someone from importing roaches that may invade the state and on the other they allow housing contractors to bulldoze dozens of Gopher tortoise burrows. As for the Everglades the sugar plantations devastated the ecosystem long before the arrival of Burmese pythons. Its a story of too little too late.

 

[fluxlizard]

I was wondering if anyone knew which states dubia are illegal in. The news article said "many states" and I was only aware of Florida.

I am surprised discoids would be legal and dubia illegal. Seem like very similar beasts to me...

 

[pssh]

Discoids are already established. So are green banana roaches, P. surinamensis, I think cuban roaches, and some other species. I can't remember exactly, but I believe red runners are too.

 

[Olimpia]

So why arent all exotic reptile species banned in FL ?

Seriously. If we're going to start playing that game, I think just about everything should be banned. Just go to Miami and see how many of the birds flying overhead are parakeets, small parrots, and macaws!

 

[eisentrauti]

Seriously. If we're going to start playing that game, I think just about everything should be banned. Just go to Miami and see how many of the birds flying overhead are parakeets, small parrots, and macaws!

I just try to understand your laws. But probably I'm too dumb

 

[fluxlizard]

So why arent all exotic reptile species banned in FL ?

I wonder why dogs and cats and non-native landscape plants aren't banned. I'll bet the mcmansion neighborhoods and their manicured plantings have done more damage to the ecosystem than all the reptiles combined...