file:///C:/Users/15402/Documents/1%20%20%20%20%20Temp/NB-80-001_article-90439_en_1.pdf
long report

Burmese pythons in Florida:
A synthesis of biology, impacts, and management tools

Burmese pythons (Python molurus bivittatus) are native to southeastern Asia, however, there is an established invasive population inhabiting much of southern Florida throughout the Greater Everglades Ecosystem. Pythons have severely impacted native species and ecosystems in Florida and represent one
of the most intractable invasive-species management issues across the globe. The difficulty stems from a
unique combination of inaccessible habitat and the cryptic and resilient nature of pythons that thrive in
the subtropical environment of southern Florida, rendering them extremely challenging to detect





Although Burmese pythons were found in the Greater Everglades as early as 1979
(Snow et al. 2007a), they were considered individual escapes or releases until the
late 1990s and early 2000s when confirmation of a reproducing population in ENP
prompted their recognition as an established invasive species (Meshaka et al. 2000).
In the four decades since the first individual was recorded, the python population has
grown and spread, consuming native wildlife and altering the food web in the Everglades

Detecting pythons, which like to hide in marshes and thrive in remote habitats, is so challenging that experts do not know how many exist in Florida, though they estimate that there are at least tens of thousands. More than 18,000 have been removed since 2000, including 2,500 in 2022, according to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/0....html?smid=url-share

Snakeskin belts, boots and holsters anyone?

Why did they allow them into the country in the first place.

Then there are the invasive plants like the Russian or Autumn Olive that the VA Highway Department plants for soil erosion.

Florida just needs a little alteration of the natural. Change the DNA of the wolverine so they grow to about, oh 10 feet in length, maybe 500 pounds and program them to love python meat.. . That wasn't so hard.

quote:

Originally posted by MRMATT:
Snakeskin belts, boots and holsters anyone?

Yes! Put out a bounty on them!

I recall reading that a dead python had been found in FL. It had eaten an alligator, but the gator had partially clawed its way out of the snake’s stomach.

Both the snake and the gator died, but the thought of any creature that could eat a gator is terrifying.

there is a bounty

Dustin Crum, who has been hunting pythons for a decade, took home $1,500 for capturing the longest snake in the competition, an 11-footer. He won in the same category in 2021 after catching a 15-footer.

“We started out doing this stuff as a hobby and just couldn’t believe we could catch giant constrictors like that in the wild,” said Mr. Crum, 42, who now hunts pythons full time. The state pays hunters $50 per foot for the first four feet of snake and $25 for each subsequent foot, he said, as well as an hourly rate.

Can ya eat them?

sdy, I'm relieved to hear that. Thank you!

ETA, since they are not native, I'd think killing them on sight would be appropriate. But that's me. I'm not a snake fan!

Shame the Pythons cant catch and eat the Wild Boars!

quote:

Originally posted by chbibc:
Can ya eat them?

Yeah, they eat 'em. Taste like chicken.

Bounty: Capture, not kill?

quote:

Originally posted by David Lee:
Florida just needs a little alteration of the natural. Change the DNA of the wolverine so they grow to about, oh 10 feet in length, maybe 500 pounds and program them to love python meat.. . That wasn't so hard.

Yeah what could go wrong.

quote:

Originally posted by sdy:
there is a bounty

Dustin Crum, who has been hunting pythons for a decade, took home $1,500 for capturing the longest snake in the competition, an 11-footer. He won in the same category in 2021 after catching a 15-footer.

“We started out doing this stuff as a hobby and just couldn’t believe we could catch giant constrictors like that in the wild,” said Mr. Crum, 42, who now hunts pythons full time.

I hope you don't have to use your bare hands! What caliber is thought suitable for these? I think I'd want to be carrying a 12ga. with 00 buckshot at least.

quote:

The state pays hunters $50 per foot for the first four feet of snake and $25 for each subsequent foot, he said, as well as an hourly rate.

Dammmit! These are four four-foot snakes, not one 16-footer!

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
I hope you don't have to use your bare hands! What caliber is thought suitable for these? I think I'd want to be carrying a 12ga. with 00 buckshot at least.

You just need a headshot, a .22 or a 410 with #4 (.13) to BBB or T (.20) would work, 20gage or higher is just a larger payload

Any chance the migration could be steered further north towards Washington?

I'm sure they can, especially the smaller, younger ones.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
Shame the Pythons cant catch and eat the Wild Boars!

They like to,but they can't deal with the cold.

quote:

Originally posted by Rightwire:
Any chance the migration could be steered further north towards Washington?

quote:

Originally posted by Rightwire:
Any chance the migration could be steered further north towards Washington?

They are already over run with snakes.

These damn things are eating everything small enough to swallow. Sadly, they are in Florida to stay. Check out Python Cowboy on YouTube; he has caught some real monsters in the ‘Glades.

I was there for work in 2019 and saw several smaller ones dead along Alligator Alley, and a fairly large one I couldn’t run over before it hit the brush. They are a scourge that we are stuck with, unfortunately. If I lived there I’d slaughter every one I could find.