Pythons don't have legs, but we're going after them step by step

[spider 69]

At least this time they'll allow us to hunt in the state FWC-owned properties.

http://www.aol.com/article/2015/02/...-patrols-to-battle-invasive-pythons/21138526/

 

[jim in Anchorage]

Some one could make a fortune hunting them and turning them into boots.

 

[jmorris]

I like the "this is ridiculous, you can't have joe schmo grabbing these snakes." line.

Then they want me to take a class to learn how to catch a snake by hand and take it to them, so they can kill it?

I didn't think pot was legal there yet, where do they find these people?

 

[eastbank]

when i find them, i leave them there at room temp. and walk away saying nothing. eastbank.

 

[Art Eatman]

This refusal to deal with reality has been going on for years. The situation is not a lot different from that of feral hogs, but for the drastic reduction in native wildlife.

 

[WestKentucky]

20 ga is good snake medicine. Gives them a nice case of high speed lead poisoning. A youth gun or short barreled adult gun would be really handy. I'm thinking improved cylinder sounds right.

 

[eastbank]

for snakes up to 8 feet a sturdy walking 2.5"-3" thick and 5 feet long with a fork on one end and a sharp belt ax is all you need, i carry a stub nose S&W .38spl loaded with wadcutters for bigger ones, one thru the head makes them dead. eastbank.

 

[mquail]

This is so silly. Just kill them and be done with it. A bounty wouldn't hurt in the slightest. If they are worried about native snakes being killed then offer a course on snake identification, tie it to collecting the bounty money. All this disgusts me when state agencies won't take the proper step forward and encourage the general public to kill these things.

 

[buck460XVR]

Sounds like a legitimate use for the Taurus Judge or the S&W Governor.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

"This is ridiculous," said Kenneth Krysko, a senior herpetologist at the University of Florida. "You can't have Joe Schmo grabbing these snakes."

Krysko said he thinks the civilian patrols will also be ineffective in reducing the python population.

Well, not if it's just something random...it won't. However, offer cash for the animals, say $20 a head with at least 6" of body attached (so officials can give a proper ID of the animal, and not pay for native species mistakenly killed), and you just might see a large reduction...but you must allow statewide hunting of the snakes.

What the herpetologists are worried about would be if all of Florida were open to folks with forked sticks and machetes, and a wholesale extermination of any and all snakes speicies happened.

LD

 

[Art Eatman]

No restrictions on snake-killing on private land. The hassle has to do with "public input" on state/federal land.

The "huggers" don't seem to realize that snakes gotta eat. Increasing snake population = declining small-animal/bird population. There are already areas where smaller native animals are almost rare.

 

[Sniper66]

Indeed, offer a reward and those bad boys will start to disappear. This idiot Krysko is typical of university elites who look down their self-righteous noses at anyone who has a common sense solution. Those people make me sick.

 

[TimSr]

when i find them, i leave them there at room temp.

Considering they are cold blooded, its more than likely you find them at room temperature also.

 

[Patocazador]

The vast majority of Burmese pythons is located in Everglades National Park. The Feds are never going to let the general public "invade their park" with the intention of killing anything.
Bureaucrats have never solved ANY problem.

 

[Rule3]

Most people do not have a clue as to how VAST the Glades are. There may be millions of snakes out there but you will never see one. Good luck hunting. You will get lost and die before you ever find one.

Until you have been out there you have no idea

It's not a walk in the woods.

 

[anothernewb]

The surest and fastest way to eliminate any invasive species is to find a profitable market for them.

 

[Rule3]

The surest and fastest way to eliminate any invasive species is to find a profitable market for them.

Not always. Florida has so many invasive species both animal and plants, They have taken over an eliminated a lot of the indigenous species.

In the case of Pythons, you simply can not find enough of them. You are lucky to even see one. They have become the top predator.

Where do you find one. Under water, in the trees, In the grass,????? Millions of acres of swamp, it just can not be done. The few they find are across a fire trail road or in someones back yard, Oh there is one as it goes under the water never to be seen again!

Just like the Giant Iguanas that have taken over the Keys and Barrier Islands, Can you just shoot them with a 22 or pellet gun? Hell no! They want them "humanely" captured and then put in a freezer to kill them! So it costs almost $50 a head for a trapper to get them! Crazy !

Heck we have Monitor Lizards here, they are so fast, Poof they are gone and can run across the water. Nope can't shoot them gotta trap them. For every one caught they eat the eggs of many other animals and reproduce 10 more!

 

[anothernewb]

well, I'll grant you that the everglades is a seriously big place. But - given enough commercial benefit in it, I'd be willing to bet either a lot of people would be out there, or someone would develop something to give people an edge finding them. it might put a serious dent in the population...

But the other aside - what's the damage of a hundred thousand people tromping around the everglades hunting pythons as well.

Invasive species are tough as nails to get rid of, nigh impossible in certain circumstances. sucks when there are no natural predators, and lots of food. The best methods man has yet created only slow the rate of invasion. Some "cures" are just as lethal to the native flora and fauna as the invasive species is.

Nature is an expert on balancing things out though - several hundred million years of practice at it. So the ecosystem won't be destroyed - but it will certainly be different. small consolation to those species that fall by the wayside though - and those that may tie their livelyhood to them.

We're facing the same kind of threat in MN and the great lakes. between the damn zebra mussels and the Asian carp. the fishing industry is going to take a monster hit. may even kill a large part of it off. Walleye are our bread and butter, and the carp and mussels starve them out faster than they can cope. sucks. But - smallmouth populations are actually on the rise, and have exploded in some areas affected by the mussels too - so things aren't all bad if you like bass fishing.

 

[Patocazador]

Like I said, the feds would never let any critter be killed in a Nat'l Park except by a contracted licensed outfit that was hired by them. Definitely no civilian hunters.

And you can't "tromp" around in the glades, it's a huge shallow lake in actuality with gobs of vegetation and sawgrass that will slice you to ribbons. The only practical way to get around is in an airboat with a rake on the front. Airboats just slide over a python without the operator even knowing.

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

Bounty the heads!

Unlikely they'll ever be eradicated unless there was a profit motive with limited if any restrictions.

Kill, cut, collect. Leave the rest to reenter the food chain significantly below the "apex" position.


Also - huge kudos OP, for the thread title.

Todd.

 

[Double_J]

I was told by a park service cop that they are ordered to kill all exotic snakes they see. This person also told me they are issued a 12 ga. and cases of shells upon arrival. I would lovetoseethem let private huntersin fora snake huntas there is no way a small numberof officers will keep up with the snakes.