FEATURE

Amnesty...It's only a day awaaaaayyyyy

I hear Orphan Annie singing "it's only a day a-wayyyy" for south Florida residents who are wondering what to do about that "cute little snake" that's now nine-and-a-half feet long and has eaten two of the neighbor's irritating, but extremely expensive, small dogs.

And my old neighbor whose onetime pet lizard had gone completely rogue, making a dip in the pool a likelihood of being surprised by a nasty hissing sound followed by a nip in the ankle from the critter we called "Jurassic Junior" is probably getting a cardboard box ready for Junior's final road trip.

At least that's my hope. If not, there's a good chance the Everglades will get another couple of "undocumented visitors" - non-native species animals that once were pets, but are now problems.

Those personal problems, however, have turned into a huge problem for the entire state. Non-native species are encroaching on wild areas with all the reckless abandon of developers in Carl Hiassen novels. Unfortunately, there's no crazy, one-eyed former governor out there to deal with them, only overworked Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers and the occasional hunter, trapper or law enforcement officer called because another swamp thing is crossing someone's yard.

Personally, I've never understood the attraction of getting a critter that has the ability to swallow everything around the house - including you. If it has fangs, claws, crawls or possesses eight legs, there's not much chance it will become the an addition to our rapidly dwindling family pet collection.

Right now, I have a sixteen year old Cairn terrier who doesn't see, hear or do much of anything well - except flush. His name's Alfie, but we refer to him as "the big finish" because as far as this family and pets, he is, well, the big finish.

But there are those who will try and make pets out of exotic reptiles, amphibians, birds, fish, mammals and invertebrates. Unfortunately, plenty of them live in south Florida. Even worse, many people consider simply taking ole slinky out to the 'glades and setting him free to be "the humane thing to do."

Saturday is Nonnative Pet Amnesty Day at Miami's MetroZoo.

That's flat wrong, but the state has had a difficult time convincing people of that fact. So, non-native animals are a continuing problem.

Tomorrow, Miami's MetroZoo is hosting the state's third-annual nonnative pet amnesty day. "Our main purpose is to give pet owners an alternative to releasing nonnative animals into the wild," says Jenny Tinnell, FWC biologist. "It's illegal to release a nonnative animal into the wild in Florida, and it could be detrimental for the animal and the environment."

People can come to the zoo and surrender exotic pets they can no longer care for, free of charge, with no questions asked.

"A licensed veterinarian will examine all surrendered pats," says Tinnell, "if they appear healthy, we'll try to place them with willing qualified, adopters."

It's not all about chucking ole' Junior the family boa, either. There will be live animals on display, activities, and experts on hand to talk about proper care of exotic pets - an attempt to keep anyone from rushing into a purchase they'll wind up regretting - or turning loose - later.

Dogs, cats, rabbits, ferrets and other similar pets need not apply -although Junior the boa might disagree.

There have been more than 400 nonnative species observed in Florida -more than 130 of them have reproducing populations. Not good news for indigenous species.

Finally today, one piece of good news about native species. Word from the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance that the New Jersey Fish and Game Council is putting the finishing touches on a new bear management policy. That new policy will include a black bear hunting component. Until the voters showed former Governor Jon Corzine the door in the last election, that component was a non-starter when it came to options on managing what is a booming bear population. Despite scientific findings that indicated only a management plan with a hunting component would sufficiently limit the unchecked growth of the state's bear population, Corzine's Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner appointee Lisa Jackson cancelled the last hunt scheduled for 2006. Since then, the DEC had refused to authorize a hunt, despite calls from legislators to do something to limit the growing problem of human-bear "interactions".

Having lived on Lake Mohawk in Sparta, "interaction" is a nice way of describing the problem of going outside to chase what you think might be a raccoon out of your garbage and discovering a mother black bear and her cubs putting together a smorgasbord in your driveway. In that instance, the old tennis shoe you'd intended to chunk at the raccoon is woefully inadequate to "shoo" your visitors away.

There's a new regulation in the Assembly (AB 181) that would prohibit the DEP commissioner from blocking a bear hunt approved by the council. It's called managing by sound wildlife management principles, not politics.

Sounds like a plan to me.

--Jim Shepherd

Feb 4	OHIO COASTAL RESOURCES ADVISORY COUNCIL Canal Way Center, Cleveland Metroparks' Ohio and Erie Canal Reservation, 4524 East 49th Street, Cuyahoga Heights, OH
Feb 4-6	2010 Wild Sheep Foundation Convention and International Sporting Expo, Reno Sparks Convention Center, Reno, Nevada
Feb 6-7	Level 1 Rifle Coach Course U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit's Phillips Range, Ft. Benning, GA
Feb 6-14	Eastern Sports & Outdoors Show State Farm Show Complex, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Feb 11-14	Western Hunting & Conservation Expo Salt Palace Convention Center, Salt Lake City, Utah
Feb 11-15	Miami International Boat Show Miami Convention Center and Sea Isle Marina
Feb 12-14	28th Annual Southeastern Wildlife Exposition Charleston, South Carolina (various locations in historic Charleston)
Feb 18-21	National Wild Turkey Federation 34th Annual Convention and Sport Show Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Resort, Nashville, Tennessee
Feb 20	Albuquerque Chapter RMEF Big Game Banquet Albuquerque, NM
Feb 25-27	Smith and Wesson IDPA Indoor Nationals Smith and Wesson Shooting Sport Center, Springfield, Massachusetts
Feb 26-28	Pheasant Fest 2010 Iowa Events Center, Des Moines, Iowa
Mar 5	Alabama State Championships Steel City Ranges, Hoover, AL

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