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Keyword: pythons

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  • Florida Hunters Bag Giant Python, But This ‘Monster’ May Still Be Loose

    11/18/2023 6:03:13 PM PST · by nickcarraway · 29 replies
    Yahoo! News ^ | Sat, Nov 11, 2023 | Pete Thomas
    The recent capture of a 17-foot, 198-pound python in Florida generated national headlines, mostly because it was the second-heaviest python ever caught in the Sunshine State. The main image showed five men posing with the dead python, which, as one meteorologist remarked, boasted a head “the size of a football.” Such captures are indeed noteworthy. Burmese pythons are highly invasive and threaten native wildlife. They do not belong in Florida and the state encourages hunting and removal. But what people rarely see, because the swamp-dwelling reptiles are nocturnal, are giant live pythons roaming in broad daylight.
  • 10 Things You Need to Know About Retiring to Florida: There's more to the Sunshine State than Disney, golf and beaches.

    11/17/2023 9:21:39 PM PST · by SeekAndFind · 48 replies
    Kiplinger ^ | 11/17/2023 | BOB NIEDT
    As you sit there mulling a retirement in the South, approximately 1,000 people are already on their way to Florida today with all their household belongings. Should you join them?Like many baby boomers approaching retirement age and hunting for a warmer climate to call home in their golden years, my wife and I scouted cities and towns in Florida for a possible landing pad — so I had some skin in the game (we decided on elsewhere).But Florida isn’t all about the beaches, Disney World and the massive retirement community known as The Villages. I interviewed experts and residents for...
  • Australian study warns over parasitic infections after roundworm found in woman's brain

    08/29/2023 9:39:51 AM PDT · by Red Badger · 19 replies
    UPI ^ | AUG. 29, 2023 / 6:40 AM | By Paul Godfrey
    A magnetic resonance image of the patient's brain led doctors at Canberra Hospital and Australian National University to conduct a biopsy during which they found and removed a live third-stage larval roundworm from her right frontal lobe. Photo by EPA-EFE/Australia National University. Aug. 29 (UPI) -- Surgeons in Australia pulled a live 3-inch-long parasitic worm from the front of a woman's brain in what is believed to be the first time this type of infection has been found in humans. Doctors in Canberra found the light red worm during a biopsy they were carrying out on the patient in a...
  • US snake hunters fight pythons big enough to devour gators

    08/04/2023 7:33:30 AM PDT · by DUMBGRUNT · 47 replies
    BBC ^ | 3 Aug 2023 | Max Matza
    The Florida Python Challenge draws in hundreds of participants each year from as far away as Canada, Belgium and Latvia who are charmed by the prospect of fame and fortune, including up to $30,000 (£23,600) in prize money. Recent Python Challenge winners include a deaf science teacher who bagged a nearly 16ft snake with his bare hands, a father-and-son duo who rapidly despatched 41 snakes and a 19-year-old who said he would use his $10,000 prize to buy better snake-spotting lights for his truck. ..."Once it slithered out in the road, I got to see the massive size of this...
  • Having more pythons in Florida is actually increasing the rat population because they're killing the other predators, scientists warn

    06/09/2023 4:27:14 PM PDT · by george76 · 15 replies
    Yahoo ^ | June 8, 2023 | Jessica Orwig
    Burmese pythons are killing off mammals that would normally keep Florida's rat population in check. A new study found that parts of the Florida Everglades were becoming overrun with rats as a result. It may be good news for the cotton rats, but it could spell serious danger for humans. Florida's Burmese pythons have been known to prey on birds, reptiles, deer, and even alligators. But one thing they don't seem to have a taste for is cotton rats. And the rats are thriving because of it. ... cotton rats "dominate the community" in parts of the Florida Everglades where...
  • Blasphemy Then and Now

    06/08/2023 6:20:36 AM PDT · by Heartlander · 10 replies
    First Things ^ | 6.8.23 | Carl R. Trueman
    Blasphemy Then and NowWhen I was growing up in England in the seventies and eighties, Monty Python infused my childhood and youth. The TV series decisively shaped my sense of humor. At age fourteen, I attended a talk by Monty Python creator Terry Jones on Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. His display of wit, broad learning, and love of engaging big ideas left me with a lasting desire to teach and to write. And Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life was the only movie I ever sneaked in to see while underage. Python defined a certain generation of English schoolboys, of which...
  • South Florida researchers use GPS-fitted possums and raccoons to capture invasive pythons: reports

    02/12/2023 5:18:43 PM PST · by Hojczyk · 33 replies
    Fox News ^ | February 12,2023 | Greg Wehner
    https://www.foxnews.com/us/south-florida-researchers-gps-fitted-possums-raccoons-capture-invasive-pythons-reports The Tampa Bay Times reported that a group of researchers has been watching raccoon and possum behavior on the edges of Crocodile National Wildlife Refuge, located nearly 40 miles south of Miami in Key Largo. Though it took a month for the researchers to locate the tracker as the snake moved in and out of Key Largo’s labyrinth of caves, when they did, they found a 12-foot-long, 66-pound female python full of egg follicles. Such a snake has the potential of laying 100 eggs, and capturing one and removing it from the ecosystem can prevent hundreds of future snakes...
  • Florida man captures 28 Burmese pythons to win top prize in state's annual challenge

    10/31/2022 2:02:45 PM PDT · by MtnClimber · 28 replies
    Fox News ^ | 27 Oct, 2022 | Elizabeth Pritchett
    A 19-year-old Florida man snagged the top prize in the state's 2022 Florida Python Challenge after capturing and removing dozens of the reptiles. Matthew Concepcion was awarded the ultimate prize of $10,000 after he caught 28 Burmese pythons during the annual contest, according to a Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation news release this week. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the challenge has, once again, "yielded impressive results" after 231 invasive pythons were removed during the 10-day competition. "Removing these snakes is one of the many efforts we are employing to restore and maintain the Everglades ecosystem," DeSantis said.
  • Hundreds of Giant Burmese Pythons Killed in Everglades: 'Destructive Force'

    10/22/2022 2:08:30 AM PDT · by dennisw · 50 replies
    MSN ^ | Oct 21 | Robyn White
    Matthew Concepcion won the prize for the most pythons removed, having hunted a total of 28 snakes. Dustin Crum won the prize for the biggest python removed, having captured a snake measuring 11 feet and 24 inches. A total of 231 invasive Burmese pythons were removed in total from the Florida ecosystem during the 10-day challenge in August, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) announced. Burmese pythons are an invasive species in Florida. They are native to Asia, but they can also survive in Florida's subtropical climate. The snakes were first introduced to the environment in the 1970s—likely...
  • Python-sniffing dogs are Florida's newest weapon in fighting invasive snakes

    12/17/2020 7:07:45 PM PST · by nickcarraway · 40 replies
    MSN ^ | 12/16
    For decades, pythons have been identified as one of the biggest and most concerning invasive species in Florida, having drastically impacted the populations of a number of native species and permanently altering the ecosystem since they were first introduced into the wild. a group of people riding on the back of a man: Truman the black Labrador & Eleanor the point setter spent over a month learning to search for pythons using scent signals and how to alert their handlers when they find a python, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.© Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission...
  • Snake and Eggs? Floridians Could Soon Eat Invasive Pythons

    12/12/2020 5:03:37 PM PST · by nickcarraway · 44 replies
    CLICKORLANDO ^ | December 12, 2020 | Chris Perkins
    Snake and eggs? Floridians could soon eat invasive pythons Python Bowl kicks off Friday in Florida Everglades Python Bowl kicks off Friday in Florida Everglades FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Donna Kalil estimates she’s eaten a dozen pythons in the last three years or so. That’s not including the python jerky, says Kalil, a python hunter for the South Florida Water Management District. “I eat that several times a week because I take it out with me on python hunts and I eat it out there.” State officials would like to see more people like Kalil putting pythons on the menu...
  • Watch: Bus Passenger 'Wears' Live Python as Face Mask

    09/21/2020 2:41:52 PM PDT · by nickcarraway · 12 replies
    New Straits Times ^ | September 15, 2020
    Public transport bosses in northwest England on Tuesday clarified the rules on face coverings after a bus passenger was spotted with a snake around his neck and mouth. The commuter was spotted on a bus bound for Manchester on Monday, but fellow passengers initially believed he was wearing a colourful face covering, the Manchester Evening News reported. "At first I thought he had a really funky mask on, then he let it crawl around the hand rails," one witness was quoted as saying.
  • The Swamp Ape - Pythons

    09/11/2018 5:03:45 AM PDT · by w1n1 · 36 replies
    Am Shooting Journal ^ | 9/11/2018 | F Jardim
    It's April in the Florida Everglades, the end of dry season when Burmese pythons breed. This invasive species is now the region’s apex predator and these great snakes have scoured the native populations of birds and small mammals. The larger snakes have even killed and eaten deer and alligators. By late afternoon as the hot sun is growing dimmer, Swamp Apes Tom Rahill, U.S. Navy veteran Joe “JoMo” Medina, and Sergeant Major Tom Aycock are tired. They've been searching for the big snakes since dawn, covering 30 miles of terrain by truck and on foot, checking the sides of the...
  • Hunters bag 1,000 pythons in Florida Everglades

    05/22/2018 11:40:36 AM PDT · by dennisw · 74 replies
    www.orlandosentinel ^ | May 22 2018 | Brian Hargrove
    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...
  • Huge pythons caught so far during state's Everglades hunting challenge

    04/05/2017 9:34:32 AM PDT · by DUMBGRUNT · 47 replies
    Sun Sentinel ^ | 5 Apr 2017
    The biggest catch, so far, went to Patrick Campbell who caught a python measuring 15 feet, 10 inches and weighing 135 pounds, according to the South Florida Water Management District. The second largest catch was made by Nicholas Banos and trapping partner Leonardo Sanchez whose python measured 15 feet, 2 inches and weighed 144 pounds.... Twenty five people are taking part in the python hunt that began in late March and runs until June. They are paid $8.10 per hour, for up to eight hours a day, and get extra money depending on the length of the snake that’s caught.
  • Missing man found dead in belly of 23-foot-long python

    03/28/2017 3:39:37 PM PDT · by Gamecock · 39 replies
    Straits Times ^ | 3/28/2017
    JAKARTA - A man missing since Sunday (March 26) in Indonesia has been found dead inside the belly of a 7m-long python, according to reports. Akbar Salubiro, 25, had not been seen since setting off to harvest palm oil in a remote village on the island of Sulawesi. A search found the giant python sprawled out next to his garden with the 25-year-old’s boots clearly visible in its stomach, according to a report in the Tribun Timur. Villagers then used a large knife to cut open the snake’s belly slowly revealing the father-of-two’s body. Tribun Timur posted a video of...
  • Snake Catchers from India Hunt Pythons in Florida Everglades

    01/25/2017 7:49:51 PM PST · by nickcarraway · 59 replies
    NBC Miami ^ | Jan 25, 2017
    The tribesmen have removed 13 pythons in just over a week, including a 16-foot-long femaleFlorida wildlife officials have recruited tribesmen from India in the state's ongoing hunt for Burmese pythons. Irula tribesmen are well-known in southern India for their snake-catching. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission hopes they'll reveal something that has long eluded researchers: a reliable way to track and spot the tan, splotchy snakes that all but disappear in the Everglades. One of the commission's exotic species experts, Kristen Sommers, said in a statement Monday that the state hopes the tribesmen can teach people in Florida some...
  • Famed snake trackers from India latest weapon in Florida war on pythons

    01/24/2017 9:02:51 AM PST · by tekrat · 45 replies
    Miami Herald ^ | 1/26/2017 | JENNY STALETOVICH
    What Judas snakes, snake-sniffing dogs and even hunters from around the globe have struggled to accomplish may finally be pulled off by a pair of singing snake catchers from India: solving the riddle for finding Burmese pythons in Florida's Everglades. In just two weeks this month, the two tribesmen from Southern India, working with theUniversity of Florida, caught 14 pythons. That included a monster 16-foot female holed up in the ruins of the old Nike missile base on Key Largo. Irula trackers and biologists discovered this 16-foot female python, along with three other snakes, holed up in a 27-foot long,...
  • Think sharks are scary? There’s a new critter swimming in Biscayne Bay [Burmese python]

    12/28/2016 7:48:18 AM PST · by C19fan · 35 replies
    Miami Herald ^ | December 27, 2016 | Jenny Staletovich
    South Florida’s most aggressive invasive species has found a new way to grab headlines: slither atop a research platform in Biscayne Bay. Last month, a kayaker spied a 9-foot Burmese python wrapped around part of a platform more than a half mile offshore in Biscayne National Park usually inhabited by sunning cormorants. The sighting was a first for the park and another worrisome sign that the state’s out-of-control pythons are getting more adept at inhabiting the state’s salty fringes. In September, state wildlife biologists confirmed for the first time that the snakes are now breeding in the Keys.
  • 9-Foot-Long Python Found by Kayaker in Biscayne Bay

    12/16/2016 10:25:05 AM PST · by nickcarraway · 18 replies
    NBC Miami ^ | 12/16
    The Burmese python continues to be found in and around Biscayne National Park. A kayaker, who was paddling around a small platform in Biscayne Bay just east of Mowry Canal, saw a 9-foot-long python curled up on a platform. Soon after, South Florida Water Management District technicians located the snake and quickly removed it. The python has been relocated and will serve as a training snake to for classes to teach the public about the Burmese python invasion and how to safely capture and remove these nasty invaders. Biscayne National Park officials ask for everyone to please keep their eyes...