HR669 - Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act

[Snake lover 3-25]

really tho... what are they gonna do? search EVERY home in america looking to steel a little girls hamster??

[Stefan-A]

really tho... what are they gonna do? search EVERY home in america looking to steel a little girls hamster??

Tell me about it. It would be utterly impossible to enforce that law.

[Snake lover 3-25]

yup just like a whole bunch of the other ones that many people don't even know about....

[sschind]

They wouldn't be searching homes because the law provides for those already in captivity to remain so. you just can't breed them or sell them or move them across state lines. The law is not unenforceable, rather it is unlikely to be enforced. Nitpicking perhaps but there is a difference. If the law is on the books it is enforceable if the appropriate agencies choose to do so.

I happen to agree with those whose sentiments are that it will not pass. It is too broad and has far too much economic impact to be a viable option right now. That doesn't mean we should sit around and wait. By all means we should all contact our representatives and let them know how much of a bad idea this is.

The bad part is that once these bills get going they don't stop. This one fails and they change it a bit and introduce another one. Eventually someone lets their guard down or the bill seems too watered down for most people to care and boom, they have their law and they have their foot in the door.

[Stefan-A]

They wouldn't be searching homes because the law provides for those already in captivity to remain so. you just can't breed them or sell them or move them across state lines. The law is not unenforceable, rather it is unlikely to be enforced. Nitpicking perhaps but there is a difference. If the law is on the books it is enforceable if the appropriate agencies choose to do so.

Nitpicking isn't necessarily bad.

Considering that there's no way of knowing who owns what species at the time the law is passed, that few can even identify them, that nobody can keep track of whose animals reproduce as well as the presumed reluctance to waste resources enforcing the law, it would be a law that couldn't be enforced to any meaningful extent. In individual cases, it can certainly be enforced.

[bkhuff1s]

On a positive note, if this passes the "worth" of our garters would sky rocket.... ok so that doesn't make it any better...

[Stefan-A]

On a positive note, if this passes the "worth" of our garters would sky rocket.... ok so that doesn't make it any better...

I doubt that garters would become much more popular, not as long as there are corn snakes.

[sschind]

Nitpicking isn't necessarily bad.

Considering that there's no way of knowing who owns what species at the time the law is passed, that few can even identify them, that nobody can keep track of whose animals reproduce as well as the presumed reluctance to waste resources enforcing the law, it would be a law that couldn't be enforced to any meaningful extent. In individual cases, it can certainly be enforced.

Right, it's like the 4" turtle law. It is selectively enforced and only when there looks like a chance of a big payoff (fines etc). Yeah, local law enforcement may send someone around to the tourist traps selling the babies if they get a complaint but so few people even know its illegal that the chance for the complaint is slim. I would guess this would be the same way. You could probably keep breeding your geckos and ball pythons and selling them to your neighbors and the chances anything would ever be done about it would be slim. The problem is that the potential for getting into trouble is there and whether or not you think its a good law you would still be breaking the law. One thing is for sure, swap meets and the like would be finished.

As far as garters becoming more popular, it could happen. A lot of people who are into the exotics might switch to something else. There is a lot of competition in corns right now and the garter field is pretty much wide open. No offense to anyone here in the states producing garter morphs but Scott Felzer is pretty much the only one I know of.

[adamanteus]

I really hope that breeders don't take Garters down the same road as Corn Snakes..... I really dislike all the man-made fancy 'morphs', I find them completely unattractive. 'Wild colour' and true to species/sub-species is the only choice for me.

[sschind]

I really hope that breeders don't take Garters down the same road as Corn Snakes..... I really dislike all the man-made fancy 'morphs', I find them completely unattractive. 'Wild colour' and true to species/sub-species is the only choice for me.

I'm with you. I like the natural colors. I think that is what really got me interested in garters in the first place, all the natural variations. In fact, I thought all T.s. pickeringii were blue but DIRK just posted a picture of a normal one. It looked really cool from what little I could see (that's a hint DIRK to post a full body shot)

You know there will always be some who will try to come up with the weird stuff and that's fine but it will never be for me.