Jerm
Avid Member
As a chairman of the Central Florida Herpetological Society, I see every month how many members that we have and how many that actually show up to meetings. I am surprised and scared that because of the decline in participation each month over the past few years, that we are forgetting about the controversy that threatens our ability to keep exotic animals in the U.S. Now I agree that there are some reptiles that only a select few individuals should keep, and yes should be regulated, but it isn’t just the big boas and pythons and species of concern that are under attack here. As a fellow herp keeper, I myself want to do everything in my power to continue my freedom of keeping some of these amazing animals in my home, which is why I am involved in the Herp society. I feel like the first step in fighting this battle is getting together with fellow herpers and standing up for our rights and showing that we can be normal upstanding citizens and still raise reptiles. There are a few people out there who are giving us a bad name as reptile keepers. You should attend your local wildlife department meetings and see what legislation changes that they are trying to pass and what type of people are showing up to those meetings. You will be amazed and in my case pretty pissed off at what organizations are there and how many people that they bring with them to support their opinions which are not in our favor what so-ever. I saw P.E.T.A at the last meeting that i attended, along with several other activist groups, and if these people are the only people who are showing up, how does that look for us? We have to go and show our support. If you get together with your local herp society or any other reptile related group and encourage them to attend the meetings which are normally open to the public, you will be doing a great thing for all of us. They are also sometimes open to questions from the public by putting your name on a list when you get there. Believe me, you will hear plenty of questions and comments from people who are against us. You sign in and put reptile hobbyist. If we want to continue keeping and breeding any exotics we need to do this now. This is just a first step. If you don’t have a local Herp society, make a reptile keeper group for locals in your area and find these meetings. If we don’t go and represent the hobbyists, who do you think is? If anyone is in the Orlando and want more info on our meetings pm me. We are attending a FWC meeting on December 3 here in Orlando. We need as many people as possible to show our support for the hobby. Thanks for reading.
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