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Posted on 07/26/2025 12:05:05 PM PDT by NautiNurse
Scientists at the University of Florida are deploying the so-called “robo-bunnies” throughout South Florida in hopes of drawing Burmese pythons out of their hiding places so they can be euthanized, reports Kimberly Miller for the Palm Beach Post. By luring the pythons to the rabbit look-alikes, biologists can save time that might otherwise be spent searching through the swamp for the snakes.
The animatronic rabbits are outfitted with motors and internal heaters that are designed to replicate the behaviors and body temperatures of live marsh rabbits (Sylvilagus palustris), which Burmese pythons love to eat.
The South Florida Water Management District is funding the robotic rabbit experiment, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has paid for related research in the past.
[Snip]
In the past, researchers have experimented with placing live rabbits in pens in a bid to attract the invasive serpents in Everglades National Park. The live rabbits were indeed effective at luring the snakes, drawing in about one per week, but caring for and managing the small mammals was labor-intensive.
“If we can see a statistically significant number of pythons that are coming to investigate these robotic rabbits and the pens, that would be a success, because right now, pythons do a great job of staying hidden,” says Mike Kirkland, lead invasive animal biologist for the South Florida Water Management District, to WINK-TV’s Bridget Bruchalski.
“If that python is detected, then it contacts someone like myself, who’s available 24 hours a day, and then I can deploy one of our many contractors to go remove it,” Kirkland tells WINK-TV.
If the initial experiment fails to attract pythons, the scientists plan to run a second round of tests with realistic rabbit scents added to the mechanical creatures.
[Snip]
(Excerpt) Read more at smithsonianmag.com ...
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‘Splodifized
Or trained mink. They get quite feisty going after prey.
I was thinking a .410 Judge-like revolver in the chest of the bunny.
Does python taste good? You’d get a lot of meat off one of those huge ones.
SFWMD has a Python Elimination Program with a link for application to become a Python Elimination Agent.
Agents receive an hourly wage plus bonus:
If it’s like those fake AI made animals in shows, it won’t work.
Varmint Cong!
We have open season on them, and a bounty system.
Why don’t they go ahead and add scent to them up front?
Python skin looks pretty cool on the back of a hunting bow.
I thought of that, but someone unaware could get hurt from that, then there goes the budget for the next decade.
I wondered the same thing. They are scientists. Can’t have too many variables at one time, I suppose.
Or a pair of boots or shoes.
Just wait until these robo rabbits start breeding, then what
Even worse, the robo-rabbits might demand hazardous duty pay, disability and death benefits.
Put explosives in the robo-bunnies.
thats what i thought
bunny bombs
but they might blow up other predators
No sport in that. I thought about using a .22 to make it a little more fair, but a shot gun means business.
I’ve never eaten one. I got to thinking about killing Copperheads. You kill one, throw him in the back of the truck and he’ll crawl around all day with no head. I don’t want to be in a boat with a bunch of dead pythons crawling all over the place.
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