Baby Turtle Pet Legislation Threatens American Ecology
Congressman Rodney Alexander hasn’t done much in the 110th Congress. Mostly, he’s offered legislation to rename post offices, and stuff like that.
However, when Rodney Alexander does take action, he really does know how to look, well, silly. What grave problem did Representative Alexander decide to address?
The ban on the sale of baby turtles as pets in the United States. Rodney Alexander crafted legislation to end the 33-year ban on selling baby turtles as pets. What a serious fellow he is.
There is actually a serious issue involved. You see, the primary turtle that has been offered for sale as a pet in the past is the red eared slider. The red eared slider is indigenous to the southern Mississippi River watershed, but not to the rest of North America.
However, during the past, when baby turtles were sold, they were commonly released into the wild by families who were tired of taking care of them. That created an ecological problem, as the red eared sliders began to compete with native turtle species.
The U.S. Geological Survey reports, “In the U.S. state of Washington, they are a potential threat to Clemmys marmorata, the Pacific pond turtle (Williams, 1999), a declining species endemic to the Pacific states (Brown et al., 1995). Red-eared sliders seem to be adaptable to many climates. This combined with their omnivorous diet and ability to adapt to various habitats, gives them great potential for impacting indigenous habitats should reproducing populations become established. The spread of T. s. elegans throughout the Pacific states in the U.S. is ominous and requires further monitoring.”
The red eared slider problem is bad enough, even with a ban on baby turtles sales in place. If that ban is lifted, the problem could become much more, as the USG
