san francisco garters

[Tyrel26]

well i am from canada so i dont know how the laws down there go with respect to endangered animals. I would imagine that these garters, like many others, would be fairly easy to breed (yes i am aware that it takes a lot of work to do this proper) and housing wouldnt be a problem for such a small animal.
Has anyone contacted the conservation officials on this? maybe it is possible to obtain a permit or work cooperatively with a zoo or reserve of some type. Of course there would never be any selling of the animals even if they are bred, but the true payoff would be just getting the chance to work with them.
At any rate it may be worth looking into, if you can find the right person a permit may be a possibility, worst anyone can say is no. Granted the chances of this working are very slim but theres still a chance; and like most great ideas it all starts with one person. it would be nice if it started with one of the people from here.

Ill try to send out a few emails (though I would not ask for a pair for myself in any event), if nothing else i may get some good information.

thanks for reading
Tyrel

[Tyrel26]

I just found an article on a breeder that has these snakes....the funny part is he is from Canada. Seems that once these snakes get across the border they are legal to own but strictly illegal in the US. In 2004 they were being sold for $1600 a pair, Im not sure if they are still being sold. I will try to contact the breeder just to get more information.

Thanks for reading
Tyrel

[Jeff B]

quote from Tyrel "I just found an article on a breeder that has these snakes....the funny part is he is from Canada. Seems that once these snakes get across the border they are legal to own but strictly illegal in the US. In 2004 they were being sold for $1600 a pair, Im not sure if they are still being sold. I will try to contact the breeder just to get more information."

Tyrel,
As someone who will be a future conservation officer, I hope you are taking notes, or at least getting a broad perspective on the effects of decisions made, both written law and the enforcement. You sound a little naive yet unjaded, which is very refreshing actually, lol, don't take that as an insult, believe me it is a very high compliment.
Trust me I am a 100% law abiding citizen, I am not anti government or anti laws, in fact I work for state government, but the point I want to make here is that often times good intentioned plans created by people who actually care about any give "said subject" can get "messy" when put into writting after the lawyers and other far removed from the subject people in charge with there own agenda get their hands on them, ect. ect., as well as the excecution and/or enforcement, and things don't always work out as originally planned. I would guess Steve, you have a very good understanding and lots of experience as well with what I am saying here? I'm not bashing the process, that's just the way it is anymore, everything has become so incredibly complicated and sometimes the common sense part gets "accidentallly"thrown out the window in the process.

quote from Tyrel "Has anyone contacted the conservation officials on this? maybe it is possible to obtain a permit or work cooperatively with a zoo or reserve of some type. Of course there would never be any selling of the animals even if they are bred, but the true payoff would be just getting the chance to work with them.
At any rate it may be worth looking into, if you can find the right person a permit may be a possibility, worst anyone can say is no. Granted the chances of this working are very slim but theres still a chance; and like most great ideas it all starts with one person. it would be nice if it started with one of the people from here. "

It's a nice idea, but for me personally, it would take more than finding the right person and a permit, an approval letter from the President and I might think about it, lol, I'm half kidding, but working with a federally protected species even with a permit would be a bit of a "hot potato" to say the least.

[guidofatherof5]

Here's a strange one for you.
There are 2 zoos in the US with S.F. Garters. San Francisco and San Diego Zoos.

I was shocked to learn(from the director of Zoo education) that the captive snake at both zoos came from the Amsterdam Zoo. At this point the US Government won't even allow any US snakes in our zoos.

[Stefan-A]

Here's a strange one for you.
There are 2 zoos in the US with S.F. Garters. San Francisco and San Diego Zoos.

I was shocked to learn(from the director of Zoo education) that the captive snake at both zoos came from the Amsterdam Zoo. At this point the US Government won't even allow any US snakes in our zoos.

Not surprising, or necessarily bad. Those snakes could only come from one other place: San Francisco.

[Tyrel26]

I read about that as well, one would think that zoos would be encouraged to have these snakes (depending on the zoo of course) rather than be prevented from having them.

[guidofatherof5]

I read about that as well, one would think that zoos would be encouraged to have these snakes (depending on the zoo of course) rather than be prevented from having them.

According to the person I spoke to. The Gov. is concidering allowing any found injured S.F garter to be placed at one of the zoos.
My surprise is the fact the US has no breeding program in place other than the orginal gene pool from Europe.

[sschind]

According to the person I spoke to. The Gov. is concidering allowing any found injured S.F garter to be placed at one of the zoos.
My surprise is the fact the US has no breeding program in place other than the orginal gene pool from Europe.

The problem with captive breeding in zoos is where do you go with the offspring. Since there is no re-introduction plan no zoos will make the attempt to breed them because they will be stuck with all the babies. They can't even sell them to other zoos right now.

[Tyrel26]

Quote "You sound a little naive yet unjaded"

This could be taken in a couple different ways lol but you say its a complement so ill take your word for it.
I have studied laws, read papers, wrote papers....and though many laws are well implemented some still lack a view of the big picture. Many of the laws we abide by were put in place at the time to "save" what was left of something until a better plan could be put into place in the future, the problem is the better plans are sometimes forgotten and it takes some reminding to get the ball rolling again.
Sure it may be "naive" to talk as though a phone call can change things; but everything has to start somewhere.

As for a letter for the President....Ill see what I can do. lol


Thanks for reading
Tyrel

[Jeff B]

Believe me it was a compliment, I definately was NOT implying ignorance, just that it sounded like you haven't been in the work force long enough to have a jaded view of the processes, you still believe all things can be made right and accomplished, which is a good thing, and in some ways with your positive additude they still can, and more power to you, sincerely. All the best wishes for you and your future career.

Quote "You sound a little naive yet unjaded"

This could be taken in a couple different ways lol but you say its a complement so ill take your word for it.
I have studied laws, read papers, wrote papers....and though many laws are well implemented some still lack a view of the big picture. Many of the laws we abide by were put in place at the time to "save" what was left of something until a better plan could be put into place in the future, the problem is the better plans are sometimes forgotten and it takes some reminding to get the ball rolling again.
Sure it may be "naive" to talk as though a phone call can change things; but everything has to start somewhere.

As for a letter for the President....Ill see what I can do. lol


Thanks for reading
Tyrel