Posted on 02/26/2010 12:15:11 PM PST by OldDeckHand
Thousands of 10-foot pythons roam the Florida Everglades, menacing man and beast alike. Catharine Skipp prepares to join the historic hunting expedition designed to stamp them out.
There are giant beasts stalking South Florida. Seriously: Burmese Pythons that can grow as long as a Winnebago and have been known to swallow German shepherds who take a wrong turn. There are an estimated 30,000 of them, slithering through Miami and surrounding counties. The reptiles wreak havoc on the local ecosystem. They can also kill people. Just last year, an 8½-foot family pet Burmese escaped its cage and strangled a 2-year-old girl while she slept in her crib.
Concern about the snake menace has been growing for years. Last summer, the state offered 19 hunters licenses to chase down the critters, hoping they could help bring the population under control. It didn’t work. So now, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is taking a far more dramatic step: On March 6, they’re declaring open season on the giant pythons, opening up 736,000 prime snake-hunting acres to any Floridian with a hunting license. People from as far away as Australia want in on the action. For six weeks, an expected crowd of hundreds will get to take their best shot at bagging the beasts.
(Excerpt) Read more at thedailybeast.com ...
Python would make a great Boot, imho.
Sounds like a good way to get rid of the Nutria.. and wild pigs..
Sounds like a good thing to me, unleash 30,000 deadly Pythons on Miami.
I’m rooting for the snakes.
Why won’t they just leave me alone?
Sounds like a good way to get rid of the Nutria.. and wild pigs..
Python would make a great Boot, imho.
Them 10-footers would make both boots!
What, you're in a jon boat? Is it day or night? I mean, are pythons nocturnal?
Sounds like a good way to get rid of the Nutria.. and wild pigs..
a friend down there said that lots died during the big freeze....hopefully that will do the job naturally.
I was thinking of a belt & wallet myself. But I am stuck up here in S.E. Mi. & I am unable to have a fire arm due to having a head injury [as per the Brady handgun control act of 1993] But I would love to go down there to have fun in a hunt!
I was thinking of a belt & wallet myself. But I am stuck up here in S.E. Mi. & I am unable to have a fire arm due to having a head injury [as per the Brady handgun control act of 1993] But I would love to go down there to have fun in a hunt!
I had a couple of big snakes when I was a kid.
A boa that grew to about 7ft. and a python that grew to about 6ft.
I gave them to a friend (when they started eating rabbits, I had enough) who subsequently gave them to a herpetologist.
They just got too big to deal with.
Good luck trying to eradicate them. Their babies are the size of earthworms.
Next week, I'm driving into the Everglades (the section that is known as Rotenberger and Holeylands WMA's) to look for rabbits while Small Game season is still on.
If the cold snap holds on, there'll be serpents up on the limestone-gravel levees.
Me 'n my Remy' shottie are gonna let Freedom "bang"!
Ping.
Is there any indication many of them have frozen to death recently?
Tastes like chicken.
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