Posted on 06/23/2022 8:02:39 AM PDT by SJackson
Starting later this summer, hundreds of hunters will disperse across Florida's Everglades.
Their target? An apex predator known to grow up to 18 feet that hunts animals as large as an alligator and sometimes as small as a woodrat.
These hunters are going after the Burmese python — one of the largest species of snakes and a major nuisance to Florida's wildlife.
Native to Southeast Asia, these snakes were first introduced to the Florida wild in the late 1970s, and they have reproduced at an astronomical level since.
Starting Aug. 5 and continuing for 10 days, those hunters (both professional and novice) will fan out in South Florida to humanely capture and kill these snakes for the state's annual Python Challenge.
Registration for the 2022 challenge opened last week. Anyone interested in competing must first register and take a required online training that covers humane killing methods and ways to identify these snakes.
It's an important program that will help restore Florida's ecosystem, according to Donna Kalil, a Florida-based python hunting professional. Last year's competitors removed 223 invasive Burmese pythons from the Everglades.
"To try to keep the Everglades healthy, you have to have the animals that belong in it. And in order to do that, you have to remove the invasive predator that is the Burmese python," said Kalil.
(Excerpt) Read more at npr.org ...
Apex predators in the Everglades get loaded up with mercury, and any other toxins that are present.
I beleive Florida does have a bounty on them. Troy Landrieu and friends got paid when they went there hunting the snakes.
Yeah...the same reason Jim Fowler jumped on anacondas from a helicopter.
There are some monsters out there. Good conditions for them. I remember seeing a picture of dead one that ate a big gator and I guess it ripped it’s belly open. It looked 20 foot.
People hunt Alligators in Florida; in fact the season is coming up later in the Summer I believe.
The last I heard you had to enter a lottery and it’s pretty highly controlled on the number of tags you get and the area you can actually hunt in.
My wife and I own riverfront property in Central Floria, you see the hunters out there on the river 2-3am in relatively small boats with flashlights, inevitably someone always lands a trophy, 12-13ft or larger and nearly 1000lbs.
Lol.ive been watching mutual of Omaha shows lately
Why do we care about humanely dealing with an invasive species and why is there any time limit on hunting them?
Do people humanely kill cockroaches and mice? I personally have used glue traps for micr. Am I a terrible person because of that?
Yeah they pay by the lb too. I had heard it was very competitive. There is big money in it, so,naturally lots want the tags. One fella thst lives there and gets tags invites Troy Landrieu and friends to come down and help him fill. Them.
Probably pretty near impossible for outsiders to get many tags- gotta have connections I guess.
It is claimed that the explosion in snakes happened after one of the hurricanes destroyed a snake sanctuary where they were “studying the snakes”.
Don’t get wrapped up in your work? 🙌🐍
Good stuff. Much better than the 1/2 hour of Liberty Mutual ads I’m subjected to in a week
A friend of mine lost his female Burmese at a lake party near Homestead, in the early ‘80s. I’m pretty sure the pet trade was responsible for a lot of the problem. Same with some of the lizards. There are companies that catch the wild specimens in Florida, and sell them around the world. Knight Anoles, chameleons, tegus, iguanas...
I do plenty...I have a water hammock for the pool and “kegerator” I can swim up to.
Yeah, and what is this “humane” shit? 12 gauge to the noggin is my idea of “humane”.
Just a little “tap” sounds good to me.
Sounds to me as though the powers that be aren't actually all that interested in getting rid of this nightmare of a snake.
I'd bring a machete and a Taurus Judge loaded w .410 shells.
Progressives?
Yeah, good question.
I don’t think I could single-handedly wrangle one into a pillowcase without getting squeezed to death.
What constitutes humane killing?
See it, shoot it, done.
Used to keep Pet Tegus, 18”
of ‘Attitude!’
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