Florida launches python hunt

CNN ^ | Jan 16, 2016

[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

[rlmorel]

Weird Al Yankovich's "Weasel Stomping Day!"

WEASEL STOMPING DAY

Faces filled with joy and cheer
What a magical time of year
Howdy Ho! It's Weasel Stomping Day

Put your Viking helmet on
Spread that mayonaisse on the lawn
Don't you know it's Weasel Stomping Day

All the little girls and boys
Love that wonderful crunching noise
You'll know what this day's about
When you stomp a weasel's guts right out

So, come along and have a laugh
Snap their weasely spines in half
Grap your boots and stomp your cares away
Hip hip hooray, it's Weasel Stomping Day

People up and down the street
Crushing weasels beneath their feet
Why we do it, who can say?
But it's such a festive holiday

So let the stomping fun begin
Bash their weasely skulls right in
It's tradition, that makes it okay

Hey everyone, it's Weasel Stomping
We'll have some fun on Weasel Stomping
Put down your gun, it's Weasel Stomping Day
Hip Hip Hooray, it's Weasel Stomping Day

Weasel Stomping Day
Hey!

[rlmorel]

Python kills two boys, aged 4 and 6

And "experts" were "skeptical" about the details. You hear the same thing from owners and advocates of certain breeds of dogs.

People shouldn't be allowed to keep animals like this as pets except under HIGHLY regulated circumstances.

[Salamander]

They get hung up on our shoulders.

Other animals do not have the collar bone configuration that we do.

Their ability to stretch is not limitless.

[Salamander]

We had rabbits galore until the coyotes came and the chicken hawks were federally protected.

I hardly ever see them hit on the road in spring, anymore.

We get all excited if one or two show up in the yard, it’s gotten that bleak.

[Salamander]

Pretty depressing.

[mad_as_he$$]

No need, just tell the rednecks that they are good grilled.

This hunt is years to late.

[TruthWillWin]

Gators don’t eat them?

[Salamander]

Are you aware that fell off the radar after the guy was charged with their murders?

It was not the snake that killed them.

He had tons of pics of them in their skivvies.

Finally, someone thought to investigate *him*.

Good luck finding any updated info.

It’s been scrubbed.

The experts were right.

[Mycroft Holmes]

Clearly Photo-shopped.

[Salamander]

Yes they do.

Lots of them.

[mad_as_he$$]

True but snakes seem to find my cousin Jim. Guy is like a charmer. No one in the family will go hiking or camping with him a snake always winds up in the mix.

[COBOL2Java]

No need, just tell the rednecks that they are good grilled.

Python Chili

[Safetgiver]

My ferrets are not amused.

[rlmorel]

Since the nineties, twelve people have been killed and dozens injured by constrictors, some severely. In the case I cited, it sounds like the typical unqualified low life who owns these types of reptiles. When it isn’t the inherent predatory instinct it is the blatant stupidity and negligence of the scumbag low life owner’s that make them dangerous.

Not all people who own them are low life irresponsible idiots, but there are a lot who fit that bill.

[mad_as_he$$]

ummm..ummm. Snake chili!

[Salamander]

An average of 20 people *per year* are killed by cows.

Horses kill the same number.

I like my odds.

:)

[Salamander]

I’ll go!

[Salamander]

I once had ferrets.

They were delightful pets.

[rlmorel]

I understand. Note that I didn’t say you are a irresponsible yahoo. If you own one of those reptiles, I am going to guess you treat it with respect as the potentially dangerous animal that it is.

That said, horses and cows aren’t predatory animals, and fatalities due to encounters with them are very likely accidental or incidental, plus the number of encounters between people and cows/horses are likely on the order of tens or even hundreds of thousands to one.

In the hands of a trained person, I don’t have a problem. In the hands of people who own them as a symbol like many who own pit bulls, I do have a problem.

[cva66snipe]

Hum two different animals have invaded the south which NEVER belonged here naturally but by different causes. In the Glades it's Pythons due both accidental and on purpose releases into the wild. The second non native problem which feeds on small game is Yotes. A third prevalent issue issue harmful to the environment because they destroy or severely damage property is wild hogs which usually is escaped hogs off farms that go feral quickly. I'll ignore the hogs vs other animals in this debate as they mainly destroy ground area.

Coons and possums are scavengers. They go where food is. If food is present even in town so are these two. Believe it or not Yotes the same thing. I chased one down a highway one night inside Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Rabbits are generally more rural animals relying on thickets, briar patches and over grown fields. BTW I've seen deer browsing on an exit ramp on I-75 in Knoxville, Tennessee. What I am saying is urban sprawl is not an argument in animals disappearing because those animals adapt. I lived in thew city when I was about 7-10 and we had plenty of possums and tree rats. Diseases and natural animal killing animal food chain, added with the specific animals natural food source found in most yards even in town for the most part determine health and population of these animals.

I don't live in the extreme boonies. I have 4 neighbors on my road and only two families live here full time. I can walk out the back or front door in the spring and see deer, turkeys, lots of rabbits, coons, tree rats, possums etc. Unfortunately I also have Yotes {confirmed kill by one of my allowed hunters}. Yotes take a lot to eat due to size and I would imagine a 200 lb snake to survive would need a considerable meal as well much more so than a caged one. I'm talking about adult snakes in the wild unrestrained and needing the energy to survive. What would be the only possible natural balance for a Python in the Glades capable enough to have an impact on reproduction? The only thing comes to mind is a full grown Gator.

Now around my parts it's not that unusual for a small dog or cat to go missing in a matter of a minute. IF this happens an hour or so before dark to up to a couple hours after sunrise a Yote is a strong possibility as to the reason.

IF the states east of The Mississippi River had been on their toes they Yote infestation could have been stopped by a bounty being set. A Python round up in an area they do not belong native too also makes sense. When I go outside my house at night to let my Rat Terrier out I carry a firearm. Why? Yotes. I can hear them CLOSE sometimes as in a hundred feet away. The snakes need to go and owners no matter if for reasons of pet or research need to be responsible and accountable if they escape. I say the same about the ever increasing Lion and Tiger rescues or anyone keeping wildlife as pets or for whatever purpose.