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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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introduce robo pythons then
[[ I don’t want to be in a boat with a bunch of dead pythons crawling all over the place]]
You bag em up so they can’t-
Jimmy Carters’ worst nightmare.
“You bag em up so they can’t-”
Oh great, a BAG of squirming pythons.
From what I can tell they are Leftist as can be. Much like National Geographic and Scientific American became. Once great magazines that became worthless due to Leftist tilts.
“Place a bounty high enough”
If they’re too high someone will start a python ranch and raise them. Need a way to thwart that.
True. Might be able to employ some sort of wireless geolocating technology. Something like an cellphone app the hunter has to download as part of signing up.
When a hunter makes a kill, they must geolocate it via the cellphone app. A timestamp is included with the geolocation.
If deep in the swamps without cell service, the phones will still receive GPS permitting kills to still be geolocated. When the phone eventually gets service, it will upload the kill data.
To receive the bounty, the number of kills must be less than, or equal to geolocated data for the hunter.
Anyone trying to get into python ranching and sell them for bounties will have their geolocated data stand out like a sore thumb versus that of real hunters.
This geolocating system will enable wildlife managers to "see" what areas are being cleared and which aren't.
To clear some of the least accessible areas, geolocated bounties may need to be increased.
Why not outfit the bloody bunnies with a grenade and a pressure switch? Python meets bunny, python bites bunny, python squeezes bunny....bunny go boom.
SFWMD hourly wages for Python Elimination Agents are already scaled to compensate for location accessibility.
As previously explained, grenades and bombs are not python-specific. Remember, this is the Everglades, with a substantial array of wildlife.
LOL, that how my Aunt Mary dealt with ANY snake that dared to slither onto her property.
Speaking of eradication, did you see this one?
Yes, I did, but the presumptions under which the program is run don't give me much hope. Said bunnies are operated by bureaucrats dependent upon the continuing existence of the problem.
Without people on those landscapes, there will be no improvement for wildlife. The journal of Cabeza de Vaca's journey from Florida to the Pacific Coast does not describe a single alligator.
But my understanding it that only includes state land. Federal land such as the everglades big cypress etc., are still essentially python sanctuaries.
Is my understanding incorrect?
The U.S. Department of the Interior granted Florida’s request to increase
access to federal lands for python removal, particularly within the Big
Cypress National Preserve.
Source: SFWMD
True. A non-selective weapon. But a 2 ounce charge would be sufficient to render a python inert. Not talking Claymore here.
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