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 ...
Lot a snakes there...........
I’ve had turtle stroganoff down in the caymans - very good.
Too little, too late?
If Florida really wanted to find them try this: declare all pythons eligible to vote, and the democrats will have them located, housed, fed and on disability in a week.
Chicken-flavored python, of course.
Its the Rats — that is what they would eat.
I’ve always wanted a pair of Python boots, but they are too expensive for my budget-I hope soon the market will be flooded with Python skins from Florida and prices will drop into my affordable range...
Snakeskin pumps are lovely, too.
“Actually I think alligator tastes more like...fish than it does chicken.”
Yeah. Fishy fish.
Python boots????
I have a pair of tan alligator stiletto pumps I’ve had for years-not much chance to wear them out here-but fancy reptile boots are considered semi-formal attire here-whether worn with a skirt or leggings...
I was also taken aback. FL must find a solution and soon!
The python population is out of control.
Bet they could eat Rino’s too........
I love boots. :)
I forgot to add that the typical Burmese python lives 30 years!
Best solution: Kill them all..Every one of them...Or deport them back to their own country...
Were talking about snak.
I think the 25 hunters mentioned at the top of the article came from just such a competition, which took place a couple of years ago.
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