Dangerous exotics on the loose ... CNN lists as 'offbeat' news

[eppur_se_muova]

An emu -- a bird capable of disemboweling a man with a kick -- got loose in a NY community and showed up at a kindergarten graduation.

Meanwhile, down in south FL, a six-foot monitor lizard was captured by animal control officials who set traps for what they describe as 'thousands' of monitor lizards who have bred in the wild.

The are the first two videos at this link:

http://www.cnn.com/video/player/player.html?section=/offbeat

[bullimiami]

1. weve got exotics in the air, land and water here.

iguanas, monitor lizards, cayman, cuban anoles, cuban toads, oscars, tilapia, walking catfish, parrots of many types and on and on...

there are more non native species in south florida than native I would bet.

[eppur_se_muova]

2. not to mention pythons ...

Time to reasess the legality of importing plants and animals just to satisfy someone's fascination with the unusual.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

4. There should just be more stringent qualificaitons to get a permit.

Punish those without permits and those who sell without permits. There's a lot of responsible owners out there (i.e. me) and we shouldn't be punished.

Also, most of the exotic animals on the market (including reptiles) are captive bred. I'm all for severely restricting the importation, because it is a cruel trade and sometimes involves endangered/protected species. Much of the importation is already done illegally and I also believe in a severe crackdown on the smugglers. Those who buy an undocumented imported animal should also be fined.

[soothsayer]

3. I wonder how our snakehead fish (aka frankenfish) problem is

doing in the DC area. They were really in the news for awhile, but I guess it exhausted our tiny attention spans.

[jmowreader]

8. Do you have a good-size bobcat population?

If so I kinda expect that what happened to your snakehead problem is the same thing that happened to the Walking Catfish problem.

A few years ago a lot of Walking Catfishes were reported, and everyone figured the Walking Catfishes would just clean out one pond, walk to another and start all over again. When that didn't happen, they set up night-vision cameras and found out that land-based predators and piscivorous birds love Walking Catfishes.

Snakeheads are much larger than walking catfishes, so only big predators--wolves, mountain lions, bobcats--would be interested.

[alarimer]

5. This thread brings up really funny ads

One for Blue Lizard sunscreen and one for Bearded Dragons (a kind of lizard)- new and used (?). I am not sure what exactly a used bearded dragon would be (probably a dead one). Weird.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

6. Lol...new and used bearded dragons?

Are mine used because I the breeder had them first? Maybe they're not really used unless I sell them to somebody else. They both have three legs, does that make them used?

Dr. Gonzo doesn't like to be called used. Watch out. He draws blood.

[alarimer]

7. I clicked on the link and it was an EBAY search

so it was mostly photos and jewelry of bearded dragons, not the actual animals.

[Deja Q]

9. I needn't say one word. One smilie shall suffice: