Once pets, now threats

Scores of non-native snakes, fish and reptiles are living in South Florida natural areas, where they perish — or where they prosper and damage the environment for native species.

It's illegal, immoral and bad for the environment, but it happens all the time: Pet owners who no longer want snakes, fish and other animals set them free in South Florida, leaving them to suffer and die — or, perhaps worse, to thrive and compete with native animals in the wild.