Stop the sale of s-s-s-s-s-snakes

 Why is Florida spending millions of dollars to rid the state of invasive species pythons but still allowing pet stores to sell them?

The slithering serpents are destroying the state’s balance of nature by eating native species animals in the Everglades. There are also stunned iguana lizards from the tropics that fall from trees like dead meat when it turns cold in south Florida

Last year Gov. Ron DeSantis announced some progress in a $2 million program to get rid of Burmese pythons with the help of contractors and freelancers.

Now, scientists are also putting GPS monitors on opossums, which are apparently tasty snacks for the snakes right out of a Tarzan movie nightmare.  

Even alligators are getting squeezed out – literally.

I don’t get why anyone thinks a cold-blooded snake makes for a great pet, but what’s really stupid is thinking that the little handful of a reptile will not one day become a 13-foot monster.

Rather than kill their pet, they turn them loose in the woods.

Turns out they can be dangerous to people, too. In 2009 a pet python escaped from its haphazard aquarium in Sumter County and killed a 2-year-old child.   

So why doesn’t the Legislature ban the sale of the creatures in pet stores?

Do the lawmakers have a soft spot for snakes? Are they being swayed by lobbyists and salesmen selling snake oil?

What’s next? Suspicious monkey business?