Contests like turtle races and frog jumping contests would no longer be allowed under a measure adopted by the Wisconsin Natural Resources Board.
You also would no longer be able to catch reptiles or amphibians to be pets.
Rori Paloski, a DNR Conservation Biologist specializing in amphibians and reptiles, told the board regulations had not been updated since the 1990’s, and were sometimes difficult to interpret.
Spread of disease was a main concern.
“These are typically invasive diseases that have come from other parts of the world,” said Paloski.“A lot of these weren't identified, described in the nineteen nineties, maybe didn't exist in the nineteen nineties. So things with diseases are a lot different.”
Paloski indicated events like a frog jumping contest or turtle races can gather a lot of animals together.
“These can have hundreds of animals being in close contact with each other. Disease spread is really one of our main concerns. You have one animal that has a disease, and you have four hundred animals that are there. Likely, they, they may all come, finish the race and they can be infected pretty quickly.”
Paloski says you could still collect an amphibian or reptile as long as they are turned loose within 24 hours.
“Having them for a short amount of time would allow kids to still be able to go out and collect frogs. We want people to do that and enjoy the animals. That would allow parents to collect animals to show their kids briefly. People to find a snake and show their friends.”
There is a grandfather clause allowing existing pets to be kept.
Under the rule, nuisance animals could be caught and relocated within a mile.
