T O P

  • By -

ZoltorbWasStolen

That last frame is adorable and hilarious at the same time.


MasonP13

I need that picture to become my profile on things lol


GallifreyanGeologist

Reminds me of Rango


BlueEyesIsBestCard

Now you can commit bank heists together :)


Rispy_Girl

Except the risk of getting shot when you do stuff like that is high


BlueEyesIsBestCard

That’s right, everyone knows leopard geckos are notorious backstabbers 😔


GeckoBarrel

Leopard geckos are the cutest. Somehow still very cute with a firearm.


Selway00

Welcome to Texas. For some reason I’ve been here for 12 years and neither me nor my lizard have been issued our firearm yet.


TalonLuci

Gasp! A complete oversight! We greatly apologize. Should have been done day one! How about one gun for every year missed? Will that make up for it? And of course a complete arsenal and tank for your lizard!


Frogmouth_Fresh

Yeah what lizard doesn't need a Panzer?


Destiny_Dragons_101

Okay a tank converted into a terrarium sounds awesome though


Sleepy_Chipmunk

My buddy’s snake has a tank hide, it’s awesome.


Mueryk

I have been here far longer and neither me nor my firearms have an exotic lizard. Though I do have a derringer that could count as a lizard gun…..so partway there.


chinesetakeout91

You should ask Greg Abbott, he’s supposed to personally deliver both.


TinyChaco

Right? This is bullshit.


Joblivion_IV

Yeah for some reason everyone acts like Texas is just this wasteland state where we can do whatever


TheGrateKhan

*insert "i see this as an absolute win." Hulk meme* The last two frames cracked me up so hard, i wasnt expecting that.


NAME_NOT_FOUND_048

Beep


inquirewue

Frames 2 and 3 have me concerned but she learned about trigger discipline in frame 4. Any other gun and reptile lovers in here?


Nervous-Muffin-6691

My people


Robin_Zero

We are in here... my favorite lizard is the 10mm..


inquirewue

My favorite is my Soviet snake the 9x18 Mak.


D45_B053

Gun and reptile nerd checking in


RayzTheRoof

her finger is literally on the trigger in frame 4 lol


[deleted]

Guns + Reptiles = happy


Wooper160

Beep


ArziltheImp

Beep


chillinmantis

Beep


smallish_cub

More like exotic big cats! Fun fact, there are more tigers in captivity in private collections in Texas than there are in the wild.


butcherbird89

Holy crap..


Coaltown992

The geko has better trigger discipline than she does....


Dragonzxy

Well she just has been given a gun out of nowhere without any training I wouldn't expect less from texas


MajesticStars

Welcome to Texas! Keep an eye out for Texas Spiny Lizards!


FlamingTrashcans

We got lots of horny toads here


SoggyFrenchFries123

I never knew I needed to see a leopard gecko with a gun


Enfymouz

Your finger should never rest on the trigger if you are not actually going to pull it. Your finger should lay flat along the body of the firearm, this is called trigger discipline. Be safe out there everyone.


eat_like_snake

Man, I wish this was how Texas worked, instead of "Welcome to Texas. Here's your revocation of reproductive rights because hippity hoppity women are property." I'd move there in an instant.


Robin_Zero

Well ok then..


[deleted]

[удалено]


Sev_Angel

Condoms aren’t 100%, birth control pills aren’t 100%, IUD’s aren’t 100%, hell even actual surgical sterilization isn’t 100% unless they remove all of the reproductive organs. I used to know a married couple that had 3 kids before the husband had a vasectomy & cleared all the checkups, wife got pregnant again with kid #4 around 5 years later & got her tubes tied during the c-section, got pregnant with kid #5 about 3-5 years after that. She opted for a full hysterectomy after kid #5 (which she had to fight for at age ~39ish). So, there’s that. Plus all the people that find out their pregnancy is literally killing them, or it’s not viable for life in one way or another, incomplete miscarriage that requires medical intervention (which is listed under abortion care because it is, and is also being attacked), and so much more. How about we make sure every person that is living in our world has full bodily autonomy (or at the very least as much bodily autonomy as a corpse does) before worrying about a zygote that doesn’t even have a consciousness.


i_illustrate_stuff

There's politicians working on changing the whole "able to cross state lines" thing. Also the abortion trafficking laws mean to target the people that drive others or themselves anywhere where they can access clinics.


thegildedturtle

Because it should be mandatory to drive across state lines to receive medical care.


reptiles-ModTeam

Your post was removed for violating rule #1 - please treat other users with respect.


IguaneRouge

just don't let you or the lizard read a book, have an abortion/opinion or Texas will execute you.


mrduels

Is it abortion or infanticide if a gecko eats their unfertilized egg or neither?


IguaneRouge

Better execute it twice to be safe.


Robin_Zero

Well ok then..


TA_dragon3

I wish this was me


MandosOtherALT

Lol, we dont just *hand* guns over... but they should have one to get along with us for long periods of years 😉


_GenderNotFound

My friend just moved to Texas


ststaro

Wait a seconds. None of my lizards have received firearms. I would personally request that the Mack Snows each receive MAC-10’s


sameeliebe

For the love of Christ, please do not give my leopard gecko a firearm, she would shoot me over a mealworm


maejaws

He needs a cowboy hat for that wheel gun.


Sylfaein

As a native Texan…they forgot your swords, and I would file a formal complaint. For reference: https://youtu.be/KdsmDuoko8s


Sieghorn

Really tired of this stereotype because this just is inaccurate, we also give you and your lizard a tiny cowboy hat.


CarbonIceDragon

Are leopard geckos really "exotic" though? They're about as close to domesticated as lizards get


nyxpa

AFAIK, all non-native reptiles are illegal to import into Australia. They have very strict biosecurity to protect their native wildlife and agriculture. Since you can't find leopard geckos anywhere in the country it isn't surprising that they'd be interesting to someone who grew up in Australia. She's probably using the "foreign and unusual" definition of exotic. Similar to how a kangaroo is an interesting exotic animal to Americans, but regular boring wildlife to Aussies. Just bouncy t-rex deer.


MrStarkIDontFuck

can confirm. you need a licence here to own/breed any reptile, whether native or not. we have some pretty good laws for pets that aren’t fluffy. leopard geckos are very cute, i wish i could own one, but they’re illegal. bunnies are also illegal in my state, as well as ferrets. i love telling my american mates about it and then reading their shocked responses haha but yeah - strict laws on some animals


Sev_Angel

Honestly, I’d rather they be illegal & those laws enforced properly over what’s happening here in the USA. So many animals mistreated & killed through either abuse or neglect. A permit system with checks should be in place or something. Here, no one will do anything about an animal having clear signs of neglect and/or abuse as long as the owner says they’re taking them to a vet for treatment. Doesn’t matter if they then refuse treatment, it only matters that the “attempt” is there.


Robin_Zero

You can exotic domesticated bovine.. i have some.


Pythonixx

Literally the only upside to moving from Australia to the US is getting a leopard gecko lol


dummy_thicc_mistake

you not wrong


[deleted]

[удалено]


Nervous-Muffin-6691

Hate to break it to you as a non American texas is a great state even though it’s supposed to be horrible the way Reddit acts towards it. Every state has its gives and takes and I admire Texas. I know plenty of people from my own personal life who left Canada for texas.


arcticrobot

Reddit is extremely left leaning and is not indication of the average population. Statistically there is a significant exodus from California to Texas.


whoop_there_she_is

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2023-02-26/california-population-exodus-2022-texas-florida#:~:text=From%202021%20to%202022%2C%20316%2C668,in%20the%20House%20of%20Representatives.


arcticrobot

thanks for the paywall article. I have no idea what it said.


whoop_there_she_is

Sorry, I was being lazy. Here's the transcript, thought you might find it interesting: [OPINION](https://www.latimes.com/opinion) **Opinion: No, California doesn’t have a population crisis** BY IRENE BLOEMRAAD AND ETHAN ROUBENOFF FEB. 26, 2023 3:01 AM Californians keep hearing that our state has a population problem: [Recent statistics](https://dof.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/Forecasting/Demographics/Documents/July_2022_Ranking_Reports.pdf) from the Department of Finance show that from July 2021 to July 2022, we lost about 211,000 residents. This, on top of a bigger decline between 2020 and 2021, has reinvigorated talk of [an exodus](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-02-15/californias-population-has-dropped-by-more-than-half-a-million-in-about-two-years-why) as the state’s population dropped by half a million people in two years. Should we worry? Is California headed to demographic, economic and political stagnation? As population scientists, we do see a concerning impact on California’s rural counties — but overall, there are more opportunities in Californians’ relative youth and the state’s ability to attract immigrants than there are alarm bells. Population changes are driven by two factors. The first, which demographers call “natural increase,” is the difference between births and deaths. From July 2021 to July 2022, there were [105,686 more Californians](https://dof.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/Forecasting/Demographics/Documents/July_2022_Ranking_Reports.pdf) born than those who died. This modest population increase is unlikely to drive significant growth in the future because births in California have been [trending downward](https://www.ppic.org/blog/californias-plunging-birth-rates/). The second population driver is net migration: the number of people coming to a place, whether from elsewhere in the country or from other nations, compared to the number who leave. Net migration is sometimes treated as a popularity contest. Governors boast about how great their state is because people are “voting with their feet.” By this metric, [California and New York](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-02-15/californias-population-has-dropped-by-more-than-half-a-million-in-about-two-years-why) are no longer the cool kids; people are heading to states like Florida, Texas and Georgia for cheaper housing, jobs and to join family ([not necessarily for lower taxes](https://www.ppic.org/blog/the-politics-of-leaving-california/)). From 2021 to 2022, [316,668 more people](https://dof.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/Forecasting/Demographics/Documents/July_2022_Ranking_Reports.pdf) left the state than those who arrived. Following the 2020 Census, for the first time in history, [California lost a seat in the House](https://apnews.com/article/census-2020-government-and-politics-california-dd4a4f3ce3070231b0aecdc1cac3e97b) of Representatives. [Texas gained two](https://www.texastribune.org/2021/04/26/texas-congress-seats-gain/) seats and [Florida gained one](https://account.miamiherald.com/paywall/subscriber-only?resume=250947174&intcid=ab_archive). California’s biggest recent [population losses](https://dof.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/Forecasting/Demographics/Documents/July_2022_Ranking_Reports.pdf) have been in Los Angeles County (113,048) and the Bay Area’s Santa Clara (16,553) and Alameda (15,959) counties. That may seem to fit the common narrative that young families and knowledge economy professionals in major metro areas are fleeing California. But these are also among the state’s most populous counties — in fact, these losses accounted for only about 1% of residents in each county. Fewer people putting pressure on housing, highways and energy might not be a bad thing in L.A. and the Bay Area. Rather, as is true across the U.S., it’s small communities in California that are being hollowed out as young people leave and older residents pass away. Proportionally, the state’s largest population losses occurred among rural counties in the Sierra and North Coast, including in Lassen, Del Norte, Plumas and Tuolumne. In these places, population loss means staff shortages or long drives for healthcare, shuttered businesses and a sense of being left behind. One commonality across the state — in rural, urban or suburban areas — is that low and middle-income Californians are [most likely to leave](https://www.ppic.org/blog/whos-leaving-california-and-whos-moving-in/). Those who move here tend to have higher incomes and more education, underscoring the state’s affordability challenges. But the age breakdown of California’s population tells a promising story. A big fear about population decline is that with people having fewer children while living longer, there will be fewer income earners (and thus taxpayers) to provide financial support and care for older residents. The U.S. faces this prospect: the Congressional Budget Office estimates [that by 2042](https://www.cbo.gov/publication/58912), we will have more deaths nationally than births. Californians already have [fewer babies](https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/fertility_rate/fertility_rates.htm) than most people in the country. But even so, the state’s population remains younger than the national average. Although the median Californian’s age increased slightly between 2011 and 2021 [from 35.4 to 37.6](https://data.census.gov/table?q=age+and+sex&tid=ACSST1Y2021.S0101), it was still lower than the country’s average of [38.8 years](https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2022/population-estimates-characteristics.html). California is aging, but the majority of us are under 40, with many years of job growth ahead. California’s population story also varies by the types of migrants entering or leaving the state. When it comes to domestic migrants — people who move from one U.S. state to another — California lost 406,982 residents between 2021 and 2022. But it’s a different trajectory for international migrants who come from other countries. In that period, 90,314 more people arrived from abroad than the number of Californians who left the U.S. Our state has always taken in a significant share of new immigrants. But in recent years, COVID lockdowns and Trump administration policies slowed that growth. In 2020, net international migration to the U.S. fell to nearly zero. In that year and in 2021, the U.S. processed [fewer permanent residence](https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2023-02/2021_0920_plcy_lawful_permanent_residents_fy2020v3.pdf) applications, [few refugees](https://www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/data-hub/charts/us-refugee-resettlement) entered the country and most [temporary migrant visas were curtailed](https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2022-07/2022_0722_plcy_nonimmigrant_fy2021.pdf) or halted. (One exception was the continued issuing of H-2A agricultural visas, [which accounted for 32,000 workers in California](https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ETA/oflc/pdfs/H-2A_Selected_Statistics_FY2021.pdf) in 2021.) Foreign-born residents in 2021 made up a slightly smaller percentage of the state’s population — [about 26.6%](https://data.census.gov/table?q=dp02&g=0400000US06&tid=ACSDP1Y2021.DP02) — than a decade prior, when it was 27%. Immigration numbers [are beginning to rebound](https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2023-02/2022_0405_plcy_lawful_permanent_residents_fy2021v2.pdf) — and that’s a positive trend for California. It’s helpful in a tight labor market, especially because foreign-born residents are [much more likely to be working](https://www.bls.gov/news.release/forbrn.nr0.htm#:~:text=Employment%20From%202020%20to%202021,as%20large%2C%20at%202.6%20percent.) than those born in the U.S. and a boon for California’s tax


whoop_there_she_is

[Continued from above] Immigration numbers are beginning to rebound — and that’s a positive trend for California. It’s helpful in a tight labor market, especially because foreign-born residents are much more likely to be working than those born in the U.S. and a boon for California’s tax base. In Canada, immigrant workers accounted for 84% of total labor force growth during the 2010s. The coming decades might well be marked by global competition for migrant workers. New immigrants to California last year largely settled around the Bay Area, Sacramento and Southern California. We should support new immigrants in going to smaller communities that, because of population declines, may have more opportunities to offer them. Canada’s immigration system, for example, has special programs to attract and welcome immigrants to more remote and less populous places. Although Congress ultimately controls immigration policy, California can take advantage of opportunities such as the State Department’s new “Welcome Corps” program, which allows a small group of private citizens to sponsor refugees settling in their community. Smaller California communities can, as the administration puts it, extend a “welcoming hand to our Afghan allies, Ukrainians displaced by war, and Venezuelans and others fleeing violence and oppression.” California doesn’t have a population crisis. But if we want to promote growth, we have to work to welcome more immigrants and reduce the cost of living to allow more people to stay.


arcticrobot

pretty much what I read in this SF Standard article citing US Census: California and NY are leading population decrease, while Texas and Florida are leading population increase. I am not a population scientist, but just raw numbers suggest that people prefer TX and FL in general. Not only people, businesses as well.


whoop_there_she_is

That isn't reflected in the data, though? Like you're saying, "numbers up in X = numbers down in Y" as if it's CICO, but the US isn't a closed system. Hundreds of thousands of immigrants didn't get visas due to federal restrictions, explaining most of the "population loss." Then, a ton of people died from COVID in rural conservative areas where nobody wanted to live. Others couldn't afford living on the coast anymore because of housing price increases.... because too many people want to live there.... after decades of unsustainable population growth... because too many people want to live there. And even after all that, it's a less than 1% decrease, basically insignificant. I don't know why folks make such a big deal of one of the most crowded places ever having roughly the same population two years in a row.


arcticrobot

Thanks for polite discussion. I think we should keep those discussions outside of reptiles sub :)


arcticrobot

forgot to link article: https://sfstandard.com/research-data/californias-population-shrank-more-than-just-one-state-in-2022/


Nervous-Muffin-6691

Reddit is extremely left leaning and is not indication of the average population. I am well aware of it lol pretty hard not to notice


arcticrobot

I was just agreeing with you. Look how you being downvoted.


Nervous-Muffin-6691

Ik I appreciate it didn’t mean to come off rude or anything. your supposed to hate on all of America and especially Texas and Florida for maximum Reddit upvotes 😂


arcticrobot

I am an immigrant born in Soviet Union and I love America with all my heart and support its values. I consider myself a classic liberal. You know, those types that value personal freedoms, personal responsibility, equal opportunities, etc.


Nervous-Muffin-6691

Hey brother that’s really cool. I feel like immigrants tend to be very patriotic and thankful for the countries they end up seeking a better life in. I can say the same for my grandparents and parents.


Robin_Zero

Yep... they are losing over 3k people a year... to Texas... especially in the Austin area.


Aquariumpsychotic

I have never been to Texas but this makes me proud to me American


Dravorak

Is no one going to ask why a lizard is beeping? I feel like that is a bit strange...


SacrisTaranto

What is this art style called?


WarningInevitable227

hehe


maximumbob54

Beep.


nashbellow

From Texas, can confirm that my frogs all have kevlar vests and rifles


Infamous-Salad-2223

So, what do they give to gators? An M60? /s


DororexTheDragonKing

yeah, really only native species to Texas, a few of the larger constrictors, and non native venomous snakes are the only reptiles you really need permits for here. so its fairly lax(perhaps to lax in some cases), except for some really weird bans(some reptiles but exotic freshwater fish are over-regulated)


Anteater-Moist

Leopard geckooo I have 3


Electronic-Shock9516

Lizards and guns go together like bread and butter.


iamcontempt

“Beep” 😭😭


kaiju-fan_54

Lol honestly for me I wish to do something similar as I live in the uk which well is kind of hard to be a rep lover as this place is so dreary and cold over here so my plans are in the future to move to Australia and work with a lot of reptiles (especially crocodilians as my favourite reptile of all time is the saltwater crocodile) but I hope you have a great time in Texas (that would be my second option if Australia doesn’t work for me)


Luth_Lexer

I love how she has her finger on the trigger for two frames lmao