Posted on 01/12/2013 4:07:33 PM PST by george76
The chance to traipse through Florida's Everglades in search of wild pythons up to 15 feet long has attracted nearly 700 thrill-seekers from throughout the county.
The Sunshine State is offering cash prizes in the month-long “Python Challenge,” which begins tomorrow and is aimed at helping to control the exploding population of the non-native Burmese pythons, which have devastated Florida's eco-system. Anyone is eligible for the hunt
...
cash prizes of up to $1,500 will be given to hunters who catch the largest and most pythons. The pythons that have nearly eradicated entire native species such as deer, bobcats and rabbits are believed to be traceable to abandoned pets and pythons released from a breeding facility destroyed during Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
The U.S. Geological Survey has estimated that as many as 100,000 exist in the Everglades. Although the snakes are not venomous, experts say they could potentially pose a deadly threat to small children. They kill by squeezing, then swallowing, their prey.
“Aside from the obvious goal of reducing the Burmese python population in the Everglades, we also hope to educate the public about Burmese pythons in Florida and how people can help limit the impact of this and other invasive species in Florida,” Segelson said. “We are also using the Challenge to gauge the effectiveness of using an incentive-based model as one tool to address a challenging invasive species management problem."
The online tutorial recommends that hunters use machetes to decapitate their quarry, or dispatch them with bullets.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
In Louisiana we call that a "lifestyle choice."
I agree, but a decent bounty could get expensive for Fl with the numbers of them.
Bella, however, is agreeable as long as you let her ride shotgun.
Crocs are a lot tougher than Burms.
That number is bogus.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/24/us-usa-pythons-everglades-idUSTRE81N24120120224
“PETA is not happy”
Oh, that’s novel.
They’re only happy when they’re killing old ladies’ dogs.
Another invasive species down here in Florida is the Lionfish. They are eating the other fish species on the coral reefs. Fortunately they taste very good and everyone here is encourage to spearfish them. No limits of any kind.
” The only good snake is a dead snake.”
And I’m supposed to feel bad for not being scared of them?
Fat chance.
I don’t like the thought of dead ‘hunters’.
They need to be red to match my vest.
[wish I could afford ‘em]
If I spot a snake a good distance from me, they don’t bother me. It is when I almost step on one before I see it that they startle the heck out of me.
I’ve always wondered how you aim for the center of mass on a snake.
No limits, but don't try to handle them. Nasty little buggers with venom that can kill kids and make adults very sick.
Ironic update:
With all those hunters, they found a juvenile red rat snake.
*One*.
One snake.
That was not a Burm.
The last lines of the report are the giveaway.
Freezing weather = dead Burms.
“Nobody needs a snake that big.”
“Nobody needs that many bullets.”
Think about it.
That photo’s been debunked forever but I really enjoy this guy’s pithy take on it:
1. Pythons are constrictors and this one certainly constricted such a large animal before attempting to swallow it. Therefore the alligator was dead and couldn’t have clawed its way anywhere. Alligators are practically clawless anyway.
2. The python’s head had been chopped off.
3. The simple expanation of this story is thus:
a. Python constricts and swallows Alligator, just as Anacondas do to Caiman everyday in South America.
b. Redneck fisherman sees python in water, easy to club and kill because of the alligator in its belly.
c. Redneck fishman cuts python’s head off for souvenier, naturally cuts open snake’s belly to see what it had swallowed. Curiosity satisfied, redneck throws headless python with protruding alligator back into water.
d. Photographer sees dead python and photographs. Ignorant press concoct ridiculous story about python swallowing live alligator and exploding.
e. mystery solved, end of story Bigger mystery: why are people believing something so stupid?
:)
Well, yeah...LOL
What in the heck is that a picture of please?
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