Posted on 05/22/2018 11:40:36 AM PDT by dennisw
Python hunter Brian Hargrove, right, is helped by Marcos Fernandez, left, with the South Florida Water Management District, as they measure and weigh the 1,000th python caught in the Florida Everglades.
HOMESTEAD — Florida is marking a milestone in its attempt to control an infestation of Burmese pythons in the Everglades.
The state has been paying a select group of 25 hunters to catch and kill the invasive snakes on state lands in South Florida since March 2017. On Tuesday, the 1,000th python collected in that program was measured and weighed at the South Florida Water Management District's field office in Homestead.
Hunter Brian Hargrove collected the milestone snake just before midnight Friday. He is the program's most prolific hunter, capturing and killing more than 110 pythons over the past 15 months.
Hargrove said he was driving slowly along a canal and looking through the grass when he spotted the 11-foot-2-inch-long male snake along a levee.
The area also was habitat for American crocodiles, one of the protected native species in the Everglades that officials say are losing ground to the invasive pythons.
"Getting it out of there was a good feeling," Hargrove said.
When the program began, Hargrove said he hated having to kill the pythons, but he wanted to help save wildlife in the beleaguered Everglades. On Tuesday, he said he still tries to avoid hunting alone.
"I like to hunt with a friend because if we are successful, I don't like to have put an animal down," he said. "It's a beautiful creature. It's not their fault. But it's the job."
Half the 1,010 pythons harvested by hand as of Tuesday have been females, which can produce up to 70 eggs each year.
"We've removed potentially tens of thousands, if you consider their reproductive abilities,"
(Excerpt) Read more at orlandosentinel.com ...
1000 snakes in 15 months is better than 2 a day though....
They are there forever now but work hard to make them endangered at least. We don’t want them to eventually migrate up to the Okefenokee swamp and other south GA swamps.
Florida already has all of those except the badger and mongoose.
I had no idea it was this bad/ 1000 pythons killed will not make a dent.
Python sushi??
Incentivize the hunt by turning it into a competitive tournament with big payouts (like a fishing tournament) and watch the number of pythons rapidly decline.
I have a really poor view of the people who want to keep these creatures as pets, and then are careless about caging them before they escape to the wild. They are attention starved white trash, mostly. Anything to stand out.
I had home made turtle soup once, and it was very delicious. I would love to have it again. I I saw it on the menu anywhere I would immediately order it.
It was a cross between a stringy pulled-beef and chicken, very tender and delicious.
I would make it again if I saw a turtle wandering around and could catch it- but those things scare the crap out of me.
And I can’t even begin to imagine how you cut it open and butcher it
Honey badgers don’t give a shit.
Horse crap. State grant money to the universities for R&D into traps. $100 a pop for an adult, no bag limit. 5 year prison term and fines for those found to be raising them for monetary gain. Promote business opportunities for the skins and meat.
See Austin ...
That is not a picture of 1,000 lbs. python Probably not even 20 lbs. either a wrong picture or the story is pure BS.
And the statement that they eliminated 10,000 pythons from the environment, if you consider the reproductive aspect. Hell, if you consider the reproductive aspect you could go to infinity. why stop at 10,000.
And why, if they want to get rid of pythons, do they limit the number of hunters to 25. Liberals just have to control something. How about if they put a tax on pythons? either the pythons will leave the country or have to get job.
read it wrong. sorry. Damn bifocals
Trump should send 10 percent of the almost 3 million strong Federal workforce (mostly useless bureaucrats collecting a GIGANTIC Federal salary) into the Everglades to help out.
For the first time in their careers, they would be performing a useful service.
That should make lot of Alpo or Kitty food.
Hargrove said he was driving slowly along a canal and looking through the grass when he spotted the 11-foot-2-inch-long male snake along a levee.
That's well over two miles of pythons overall. Thanks dennisw.
“While driving....when he spotted the 11-foot-2-inch-long male snake...”
Man - that guy has REALLY good eyesight!!
No, they never will, because the people have entrusted a government bureaucracy to handle the problem.
Shift that problem over to the private sector, and it will soon be gone.
I say feed ‘em to the snakes!
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