Posted on 08/31/2009 3:48:02 AM PDT by kingattax
This attempt by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to control the booming Burmese python population in south Florida is amusing.
If you haven’t heard, the commission began a permit program that allows reptile experts to capture and kill Burmese pythons in state-managed lands around the Everglades.
There are likely more than 100,000 pythons in the Everglades, some possibly more than 20 feet long.
ASSOCIATED PRESS Pythons have become a big nuisance in Florida, but that’s not the only place they have been found. This 11-foot Burmese python was captured by the Riverside County Department of Animal Services on Aug. 17 in Lake Elsinore, Calif. Request this Photo The FWC reported in a news release that as of Friday, permit holders have captured and euthanized 17 pythons.
Nice.
Only 99,987 to go.
It’s like trying to remove all the shells from the beaches. Not gonna happen.
The FWC authorized 13 permits for the program, which ends Oct. 31. At this rate, there could be 50 pythons dead.
That’s but a chink in the armor of pythons, which have no natural enemies. Even alligators have fallen prey to the python.
The FWC claimed that offering permit holders a chance to hunt the pythons could bring invaluable data to scientists to assist and stop the spread of species in Florida.
At least they’re trying.
But what could that data bring?
I don’t know how you eliminate even half of that population, unless scientists invent some poison that’s put in the water and kills only Burmese pythons. Seen stranger things happen.
But give the permit holders credit. They’re not even allowed to use firearms or traps. They can capture the snake with nets and snares and must kill the snakes with a blunt or sharp hand-held device.
According to the FWC release, the hunters report the G.P.S. location of the pythons captured and take a digital picture of the carcasses. The FWC will study the data collected, according to the release, to determine the stomach contents and location to see if the program should be extended.
If the program is extended, perhaps there should be more than 13 licensed permit holders trying to control such an immense population. Because this is not a problem that will be solved by so few. In fact, it would take hundreds of hunters who have gone through some kind of python-hunting training just to balance out the number of pythons that will spawn in April and May. But they likely would not have the time to put a dent in the populations.
Unfortunately, one of the best solutions has come far too late. The U.S. House Judiciary Committee recently approved legislation that would prohibit importation and interstate commerce of Burmese and African rock pythons, which the committee deemed the most dangerous, for the pet trade. The bill, H.R. 2811, has moved to the full House of Representatives for consideration.
We have irresponsible pet owners to thank for discarding their pythons. After a few months, or years, or whenever their little honeymoon period was over, maybe python owners decided they should have settled for something not at the top of the food chain.
Maybe a gerbil would have been a better buy. Or a hamster. Python chow. Anything that can’t take over an ecosystem and threaten the lives of animals and small children.
I think it might be a little too late to control the Burmese python.
Barring some miraculous idea, look for pythons to become more widespread.
They’re spawning, they’re elusive swimmers and climbers, and when it comes to the food chain, they’re on no one’s menu.
To close, the FWC reported in its news release that it “hopes the information collected will lead to an expansion of this initial step to help eradicate Burmese pythons in Florida.”
Eradicate Burmese pythons in Florida?
Now that’s a gut-buster.
sounds about like the govt. doesn't it ?
lol - yep
I hear they make a good stew though...
The only way to eradicate pythons is to declare all out war. Send in hundreds of men with machine guns, flame throwers and RPGs. Right now they are just wasting money
NEVER!
Do they taste like chicken?
LOL
The biggest joke is that these are highly educated adults earning high salaries with huge benefits and wonderful pensions.
We might as well take all that money and flush it right down the toilet, for all the good it’s doing anybody in Florida.
We're gonna need a bigger stick.
Declare open-season on them with a bounty of $20 a head. Advertise this in South Georgia and Louisiana. Them good ol’ boys will each take a two-week vacation to South Florida and eradicate the problem in no time.
Nuke the everglades from orbit. Its the only way to know for sure.
Send them into the python lairs with bazookas and dynamite and blow them up to kingdom come
I propose we send Jeff Corwin down there to personally trap all the snakes.
Or a six pack.
Ummm, how does one go about catching a python?
When I was in Vietnam, someone shot a 21 ft long boa of some kind and we had a barbeque with the darn thing. That snake was delicious. If they want to get rid of the snakes, they need to relax the rules of engagement, allow guns and post a few recipes.
Tie a rope around your waist. Get a stick with a white flag on it. Crawl under your house and wave the flag in the pythons face. When the python bites the flag scream until somebody grabs the rope and drags you and the snake out....
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