Posted on 01/16/2016 9:49:57 AM PST by george76
Burmese python invasive to Everglades. The Burmese python, one of the largest snakes in the world, is running amok in Florida.
Well, more like slithering amok.
So much so that on Saturday, state officials kick off a month-long competition designed to remove as many of the colossal constrictors from the Everglades as possible.
More than 600 people have signed up for the Python Challenge, according to Carli Segelson, a spokeswoman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which organized the event.
A cash prize goes to the hunter who captures -- dead or alive -- the most Burmese pythons, as well as one for the longest one.
Why? Because the Burmese python, which can be as large as 23 feet long and weigh up to 200 pounds, doesn't belong in the Everglades, in Florida -- or even in this hemisphere for that matter.
...
Even though it seems like such a large snake would be easy to find or see, only a very small fraction of pythons present in the park are ever detected
...
Just how hard are they to find? In the inaugural Python Challenge in 2013, 1,600 hunters could only produce 68 of them. In fact, the Burmese python is so hard to detect, Segelson said there are no reliable estimates as to how many of them there actually are in Florida -- but they've been a long-simmering problem for the state.
...
the invasive species is responsible for causing the near "complete disappearance of raccoons, rabbits and opossums
(Excerpt) Read more at wyff4.com ...
I’d rather have politician hide boots.
But that’s my preference.
That is printed cowhide, you know.
Another reason for semi-automatic rifles with large-capacity magazines. Put enough slugs in one to make the critter REALLY stop.
Maybe they can dress out the carcasses and provide them as a delicacy at local bar-b-q restaurants.
Works for alligators, doesn’t it?
Well, even assuming your right about evil developers, for the present it’s illegal to put a bounty on them and kill them, so in my book an invasive species that has the potential to kill humans is a species that should be removed asap.
And anyone who wants one for a pet should have to pay a very hefty annual license fee to go to a fund to pay for the bounties on released or escaped pythons.
Rabbits-— I lived in Naples, FL for 30 years, 30 years ago and certain times of the year when you crossed Alligator Alley there were so many dead( and alive ) rabbits on the road bed when you got closer to Andytown it was almost like driving on a wet/icy road there were so many crushed rabbits. Seems like there would have to be wall to wall snakes to consume them. Its been 30 years so possible times have changed.
Snakes are not easy to find.
Try not to get the wrong python.
They do not kill people.
That is yet another pile of histrionic crap, foisted on the ignorant by liberal creeps.
Do you mean a fee and license like for guns or what?
Fake.
Did you really fall for that?
And it's even worse, now.
35 years ago I was poor and sustained myself by shooting rabbits at night. I’d only have to go out one night and shoot 50-60 of them and I’d be able to freeze them and eat until fall. I did that once when I was poor. Today there are hardly any rabbits like that around due to the coyote population. Burmese Pythons or coyotes? Things change.
1990:
http://www.nytimes.com/1990/10/31/opinion/l-saving-the-everglades-from-sugar-cane-251390.html
Yep.
That worked out real well.
Q: What is the Burmese python’s mating call?
A: “Hillary!”
I hunted and bass fished in the everglades many years ago and about all we worried about as far as snakes were cottonmouth and rattlesnakes
Anything they can get their coils on is fair game ...
Wow! When I lived briefly in FLA the image on the right west of the lake was all swamp also.
But even then the raw sewage pumped out of Miami and into the ocean was killing the Keys ...
I see no reason for debating that they are eating something.
They are a non-native species which can upset the natural balance of the everglades wildlife.
It would be a licensing fee for non-native species that anyone who wanted to keep them as pets should pay. Should apply to all invasive species such as piranhas, tigers, and reptiles/amphibians which are potentially dangerous to the ecosystem and/or humans. In effect it would be a user tax to take care of irresponsible use of these non-native animals.
Any large python could kill a child. There are plenty of photos of them with deer and alligators so we’d have to assume they could take a smaller animal like a child with ease.
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