Shall We Kill Invasive Wildlife?

Killing invasive wildlife is almost always a political act, not a biological one.

Im annoyed by the people on Reptile ID groups, and elsewhere, that advise people who post pictures of cuban tree frogs, basilisks, Burmese pythons, or other non-native species to kill them.

These are almost always people with zero experience, or worse, wildlife rehabbers, who seem desperate to assert their authority over others by informing them of the Proper Coarse of Action. They jump at every opportunity to state with great authority that the non-natives are destroying native species and, as I heard yesterday, that every invasive species that is not immediately killed will “produce tens of thousands of offspring” – as if anyone who doesn’t take it upon themselves to kill some hapless little frog they discover in their yard is guilty of horrendous crimes against nature.

These wildlife police don’t seem to be able to comprehend the fact that, for example, 99.9% of the frog eggs laid will die of any number of natural causes before they reach reproductive age. And that killing one simply makes room for one more of those eggs to survive to adulthood and fill that space they created.

They never seem to question whether the non-native species is *really* destroying the habitat or out competing native species. They are too eager to lord their Deep Insights, Superior Understanding and Authority over others to be curious about the facts they hold dear.

Its like the park conservation officer at a state park in the Florida Keys who explained to me – pointing at the beautiful, non-native blue and orange agama hanging on the side of a tree – that they were bringing in a trapper to rid the park of these invasives, and the beautiful green iguanas we saw along side the path too. I asked her why and she explained that they upset the balance of nature and pose a serious risk to the native wildlife and ecosystem.

At the time, we were standing amidst a crowd of park visitors who were gathering at the beach, raising our voices over the rumble of a dozen boat motors spewing exhaust smoke at the docks, and surrounded by literally hundreds of cars swirling around on two huge asphalt parking lots.

I didn’t respond immediately to her comments but instead slowly looked around at our surroundings. Then looked at her and asked, “So it’s these little lizards you see as the problem?”

If photos of these little lizards had been posted to one of the Reptile ID groups, the nazi know-nothings would have advised all reading that they should die. And that the poster had a responsibility to capture and kill them. In order o ensure the balance of nature not be further disrupted by their bright blue and orange presence.

I really, really hope that these self appointed wildlife nazis take a breath and realize they have no right to be advising anyone to be killing anything. They are promoting violence against wildlife in a sick and irresponsible way. Without even understanding what they are saying or why, they are insisting you and I and everyone else adopt their psycho, uninformed, utterly senseless and stupidly violent attitude toward nature because, dammit, *they* get to decide what wildlife gets to survive and what doesnt.