I don't know where they are - if you know, email me! Bill Love refuses to tell me - I guess he doesn't know me well enough to trust me. HE believes (and rightly so), that if the exact location of the veileds in Florida becomes known, they will be exploited. I won't exploit them - I admit, I'd probably take a couple, if they're nice looking, and seem to have favorable traits - but I want to go to see them in the wild - that would be cool.
They're not a bad invasive at all. Niles, on the other hand - very bad. Shot on sight bad. They're just not a good species to have running wild. Them and the big snakes. Chameleons will just eat bugs and hibiscus flowers... and maybe lots of cuban brown anoles. I think we need to release some melleri down there to help control those little suckers.
Wanna hear something REALLY scary? Ernie Jillson, of the Miami Dade Fire Dept's. "Venom One" unit,(largest public-use antivenin collection/storage in the US) had a list of many of the snake bites they've treated in the past several years. Some all over the world. Most of them were Native snakes, pit vipers especially. Many of the exotics were cobras and mambas - and not all of the cobra and mamba bites were in captivity.
Yup - cobras and mambas are now living and breeding in the wilds of Florida.
Lovely, huh?
And, to remain on topic: I think a species specific photo contest would be cool, but not every time. Maybe every 2-3 months. We'd have panthers and veileds.... and after that, we're really limiting our entries.