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Missouri Man Shoots 14-foot Python, Larger 18-footer Captured in Florida
outdoorhub.com ^ | 7/30/2015 | Daniel Xu

Posted on 08/01/2015 4:37:00 PM PDT by GoneSalt

Two huge Burmese pythons were caught and killed recently, one by a homeowner in Missouri’s rural Warren County, and the other by a researcher in Florida’s Shark Valley. Burmese pythons are considered to be a highly invasive species across the American Southeast, especially in Everglades National Park, where the slithery creatures have started to colonize. Experts say the snakes threaten native wildlife species like ground-nesting birds, but it seems that the reptiles also have an appetite for domestic animals as well.

For days, a massive 14-foot python had stalked a community near Jonesburg, until residents took matters into their own hands and dispatched the animal with a shotgun on Tuesday.

“I was terrified,” Pauline Horstdaniel told KTVI. “I got my husband out of bed. He’s out there in his underwear with his gun.”

In the end, it was another resident who killed the animal. Residents had attempted to get help from the sheriff’s office and a local snake expert, but said that it would take too long before the snake could be captured. In the meantime, the massive python was gobbling down small animals, chickens, and even suspected of eating dogs. At least one resident spotted the snake attempting to hunt down their poodle.

“You only see snakes like this in the movies and at the zoo,” Horstdaniel said.

The dead python measured 14 feet and seven inches, but was overshadowed by a 18-foot, three-inch snake captured earlier this month. That python was caught by a researcher in Everglades National Park along a tram road. According to experts, it may very well be the second largest Burmese python to ever be captured in the state. However, officials say that even bigger pythons can be living deep inside the Everglades.

“While this individual was among the largest of the pythons that have been removed, it was not record-setting,” Katie Corrigan, Everglades public information officer, told the San Antonio Express-News. “We expect to occasionally encounter large pythons in this size range as we continue python removal efforts, though most pythons that we encounter are smaller.”

The python was handed off to the US Geological Survey and National Park Service for some hands on training for interns at those agencies. Corrigan said that the snake was later euthanized.


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: Florida; US: Missouri
KEYWORDS: burmesepythons; cecil; everglades; jonesburg; pythons; reptiles; snakes; warrencounty; wildlife
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To: AnotherUnixGeek
Someone got any good recipes for python?

Here's how to start

21 posted on 08/01/2015 6:05:05 PM PDT by ASA Vet (My new Zombie Gun - Mossberg 930 SPX w/ Steamlight TLR-2 HL G)
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To: IMR 4350

I’ve eaten Boa & Python in Bangkok. They really do taste like chicken.


22 posted on 08/01/2015 6:07:22 PM PDT by ASA Vet (My new Zombie Gun - Mossberg 930 SPX w/ Steamlight TLR-2 HL G)
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To: GoneSalt

This is a form of terrorism, IMO. These python stories just started happening. They are not native to the U.S.


23 posted on 08/01/2015 6:18:55 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
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To: GoneSalt

24 posted on 08/01/2015 6:23:54 PM PDT by Kirkwood (Zombie Hunter)
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To: mad_as_he$$

Gosh. We have warm basements here in TN, too. - We already have rattlesnakes & copperheads here; now I suppose if they’re (pythons) in Missouri, they *could* show up here.


25 posted on 08/01/2015 7:40:45 PM PDT by Twinkie (John 3:16)
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To: fungoking

Very, very true!


26 posted on 08/01/2015 8:21:34 PM PDT by piasa (Attitude adjustments offered here free of charge)
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To: Mariner

Probably someone got tired of buying bunnies for their pet snake, I doubt that thing spent a winter outdoors in MO though maybe it could in a storm cellar or spring house or in a manure pile where the compost keeps the temp up.


27 posted on 08/01/2015 8:26:20 PM PDT by piasa (Attitude adjustments offered here free of charge)
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To: GoneSalt

I love Missourians- the women were already skinning the thing while the newsies were there.


28 posted on 08/01/2015 8:31:10 PM PDT by piasa (Attitude adjustments offered here free of charge)
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To: deepestsouth1

“Since pythons have no legs, how do they choose which underwear leg opening to slither into?

Boxers or briefs?”

Pythons may be too picky - trouser snakes inhabit either.

;-(


29 posted on 08/01/2015 8:32:59 PM PDT by GladesGuru (Islam Delenda Est. Because of what Islam is - and because of what Muslims do.)
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To: GoneSalt

Deep in the Swamp Of Socialism, is a legal conundrum. One may carry concealed while in either Everglades National Park(home of the 18 footer) or in the Big Cypress National Preserve. Both are operated by the Department of the Inferior, who have outlawed shooting pythons!

Under Florida Law, I draw the readers attention to the fact that if a human threatens severe harm or death, one may shoot/kill such a threatening human.

ParcMan, however sez “Just don’t shoot one of those precious pythons!”

Just the usual enviro-commies attempting to equate animals with humans.

For a succinct and enjoyable insight into the attitude of ParcPersons, look up the video ‘Big Park’. IIRC, it was produced by ParcMan Videos, a property rights group out in Nevada.


30 posted on 08/01/2015 8:50:45 PM PDT by GladesGuru (Islam Delenda Est. Because of what Islam is - and because of what Muslims do.)
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To: GoneSalt

Will Florida demand that Missouri extradite the hunter?


31 posted on 08/01/2015 9:11:40 PM PDT by castlebrew (Gun Control means hitting where you're aiming!))
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To: GladesGuru

Post 30 But these pukes pretend to care about the native fauna yet don’t give a damn when the invasive predator kills them.


32 posted on 08/01/2015 11:39:02 PM PDT by Rockpile
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To: GoneSalt

Some things need to go extinct. That’s one of them.

In a sane America, those things would already have been completely eradicated, with extreme prejudice.


33 posted on 08/01/2015 11:46:19 PM PDT by EternalVigilance
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To: GoneSalt
.....”the slithery creatures have started to colonize. Experts say the snakes threaten native species”....

Islam.

34 posted on 08/01/2015 11:47:30 PM PDT by caww
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To: ASA Vet

If you go to Mexico chicken might taste like cat.


35 posted on 08/02/2015 6:08:43 AM PDT by IMR 4350
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To: GladesGuru

“Both are operated by the Department of the Inferior, who have outlawed shooting pythons!”

Seems like a worthy cause to me.

Hey, hey, DOI, how many pythons did you breed today?

Pythons should be fed bureaucrats, not our wildlife.


36 posted on 08/02/2015 8:47:16 AM PDT by dsc (Any attempt to move a government to the left is a crime against humanity.)
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