2013 Python Challenge and PETA

Discussion in 'World Events' started by Orleander, Feb 17, 2013.

  1. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    Why isn't PETA all over this?

    They can reach lengths of 18 feet and their numbers are estimated to be in the tens of thousands, but Burmese pythons, a nuisance in the Everglades, aren't easy to find.
    "It's an amazing challenge to try to come out and hunt these big snakes," hunter Dennis Jordan told CNN Miami affiliate WSVN in the closing days of the 2013 Python Challenge sponsored by state officials.
    The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission announced Saturday that 68 Burmese pythons were killed during the January 12-February 10 competition that drew 1,600 registrants lured by prizes of up to $1,500.
    Though the take was small, wildlife officials said their main aim was heightening public awareness of the invasive species.


    Is it because they are snakes that PETA doesn't care, or because they are an invasive species? Is there a list of animals PETA doesn't care about?
     
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  3. ElectricFetus Sanity going, going, gone Valued Senior Member

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    Why does it matter what PETA notices or cares about?
     
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  5. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    the hypocrisy of it. I want to know which animals are worth saving and which aren't. And PETA used to care about the ethical treatment of animals (which I agree with) before they went all crazy
     
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  7. ElectricFetus Sanity going, going, gone Valued Senior Member

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    I'm pretty sure the PETA people disagree with ALL hunting in general, and just because they don't specify every kind of hunt, does not mean they let it slide.
     
  8. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    Is getting rid of an invasive species considered sport hunting?
     
  9. Stoniphi obscurely fossiliferous Valued Senior Member

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    I note they left out "deer" in their 'living with wildlife' column.

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    The argument gets problematic with deer.....
     
  10. Saturnine Pariah Hell is other people Valued Senior Member

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    One would have to see this avoidance of possible bad marketing. Which is more appealing as a mascot for any animal rights organization? A: a fluffy puppy with the classic big eyes. Or B: a large scaly, cold-blooded reptile that would kill you within a minute. That’s why the World Wildlife Fund uses a cute panda instead of a tiger as the mascot. Create a paradigm or identifiable logo that people accept and stick to it. Pick and choose who or what you support to gain as much backing as possible. Clever girl…Ingrid Newkirk…clever girl.
    [video=youtube;jaFT6RVz5w4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaFT6RVz5w4[/video]
     
  11. ElectricFetus Sanity going, going, gone Valued Senior Member

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    Well of course cute animals get you much further then fugly ones if you want people to not kill them. But the fundamental argument that animals feel pain and thus it wrong to inflicted pain on them is universal. Of course its gets muddied by the fact that many animals (like the Python) inflict pain and kill other animals, and that culling the python could save other animals form extinction. Of course culling humans would probably go a much longer way towards saving other animals from extinction.

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    Last edited: Feb 18, 2013
  12. Saturnine Pariah Hell is other people Valued Senior Member

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    Indeed, humanity is the scourge of this world. We create our own problems with our behavior.
     
  13. billvon Valued Senior Member

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  14. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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  15. ElectricFetus Sanity going, going, gone Valued Senior Member

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  16. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    PETA was upset that they were having their heads chopped off, not that they were being killed.
     
  17. Asguard Kiss my dark side Valued Senior Member

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    Orleander you don't think maybe that they realise that as an invasive species that is threatening other wildlife that something had to be done but that it should be done as humainly as possible. What do you want them to recommend?
     
  18. ElectricFetus Sanity going, going, gone Valued Senior Member

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    Live immolation? I do wonder about what is the best way to kill giant snakes and I got to say cutting their head off sounds pretty optimal. I guess you could shoot them in the head, but considering the size of their head a machete might be easier to aim.
     
    Last edited: Feb 19, 2013
  19. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    True. But they probably weren't that thrilled about the killing either.
     
  20. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    LMAO. Nope, I do not think PETA has a lick of common sense. I imagine them saying "its not the snakes fault they are invasive. They are wild creatures doing what they do."
     
  21. pjdude1219 The biscuit has risen Valued Senior Member

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    Machete not a good idea. A burmi or an African rock( the 2 primary ones though all of the big five have been seen in Florida) would be about 8 to 12 feet at adult size starting. To get close enough your within striking distance and if by your self are screwed if it coils you.
     
  22. kwhilborn Banned Banned

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    @ Asguard,
    "Humanely" possibly? Too messed up for spell check to define.
     
  23. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

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    It's a very short list:
    • 1. Homo sapiens.
    • -- end of list --

    They have a lot of influence.

    I'm a carnivore and I set mousetraps and I would kill any animal (human or other species) that tried to seriously hurt my dog. Yet I still believe that we should try to minimize suffering. I don't approve of the factory farms that keep animals in such small enclosures that they can't even turn around; I'll pay more for meat if it comes from cows or pigs or chickens that didn't spend their short lives in agony.

    PETA is not my favorite animal rights organization and I think their philosophy will result in harm to humans, yet I still appreciate where they're coming from. We're animals too; we could stand to be a little more empathetic. It might make us better people.

    They disagree with killing animals for food, period. They think we should all be vegetarians. Or perhaps even vegans, they probably even think that dairy and egg farming is cruel to the cows and chickens. (Admittedly, the way it's practiced today is just another form of factory farming, but it doesn't have to be.) As far as I'm concerned, everybody has a job to do and theirs is to give milk and lay eggs.

    I don't know how PETA regards it, but if it's presented and set up as sport hunting I suppose it's the old "quacks like a duck" principle. We have a terrible problem with wild boars (actually wild boar/domestic pig hybrids that are worse than the wild ones because they're smarter and more social and know how to evade humans) and they have to be culled aggressively or they'll (almost literally) take over the entire country. So many need to be taken down that the governments figure they might as well set up the whole enterprise as sport hunting and collect some fees in the bargain.

    I don't see a problem with this. My only problem with hunters is if they're not very good at it so the animal ends up hobbling away in agony instead of dead. -- Oh yeah, and of course the a**holes who pay big bucks to travel to poorly governed countries and kill endangered species. I would approve of using drones to take out those guys.

    They've been taking a census of the indigenous wildlife and the population drops are alarming. Some wildlife that used to be very common is now so rare that people seldom see them anymore. This will screw up the entire ecosystem.

    We're taking care of that. The second derivative of population went negative thirty years ago. Our numbers are universally predicted to level off by the end of this century and then start falling--i.e., the first derivative will go negative.

    The warming trend (whether or not anything we've done is accelerating it, this is indeed the end of an ice age and the mean temperature will keep rising for a while) will surely result in the extinction of quite a few animals, like the polar bear and many species of penguin. Our challenge will be to establish enough artificial environments to keep a viable gene pool of all those species on hiatus for a couple of thousand years until the icepacks start reforming. I can hardly wait for the PETA billboards urging us to "SAVE THE WOLVERINE!" (An animal that is only loved by people who have never seen it.)
     

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