'Python challenge' draws hundreds of hunters
BIG CYPRESS NATIONAL PRESERVE, Fla. (AP) - An armed mob set out into the Florida Everglades on Saturday to flush out a scaly invader.
It sounds like the second act of a sci-fi horror flick but, really, it's pretty much Florida's plan for dealing with an infestation of Burmese pythons that are eating their way through a fragile ecosystem.
Nearly 800 people signed up for the month-long "Python Challenge" that started Saturday afternoon. The vast majority - 749 - are members of the general public who lack the permits usually required to harvest pythons on public lands.
"We feel like anybody can get out in the Everglades and figure out how to try and find these things," said Nick Wiley, executive director of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "It's very safe, getting out in the Everglades. People do it all the time
Twenty-eight python permit holders also joined the hunt at various locations in the Everglades. The state is offering cash prizes to whoever brings in the longest python and whoever bags the most pythons by the time the competition ends at midnight Feb. 10.
Dozens of would-be python hunters showed up for some last-minute training in snake handling Saturday morning at the University of Florida Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center in Davie.
The training came down to common sense: Drink water, wear sunscreen, don't get bitten by anything and don't shoot anyone.
Many of the onlookers dressed in camouflage, though they probably didn't have to worry about spooking the snakes. They would have a much harder time spotting the splotchy, tan pythons in the long green grasses and woody brush of the Everglades.
"It's advantage-snake," mechanical engineer Dan Keenan concluded after slashing his way through a quarter-mile of scratchy sawgrass, dried leaves and woody overgrowth near a campsite in the Big Cypress National Preserve, which is about 50 miles southeast of Naples and is supervised by the National Park Service.
Keenan, of Merritt Island, and friend Steffani Burd of Melbourne, a statistician in computer security, holstered large knives and pistols on their hips, so they'd be ready for any python that crossed their path. The snakes can grow to more than 20 feet in length.
The most useful tool they had, though, was the key fob to their car. Burd wanted to know that they hadn't wandered too far into the wilderness, so Keenan clicked the fob until a reassuring beep from their car chirped softly through the brush.
The recommended method for killing pythons is the same for killing zombies: a gunshot to the brain, or decapitation to reduce the threat. (The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals doesn't approve of the latter method, though.)
Pythons are kind of the zombies of the Everglades, though their infestation is less deadly to humans. The snakes have no natural predators, they can eat anything in their way, they can reproduce in large numbers and they don't belong here.
Florida currently prohibits possession or sale of the pythons for use as pets, and federal law bans the importation and interstate sale of the species.
Wildlife experts say pythons are just the tip of the invasive species iceberg. Florida is home to more exotic species of amphibians and reptiles than anywhere else in the world, said John Hayes, dean of research for the University of Florida's Institute for Food and Agricultural Sciences.
Roughly 2,050 pythons have been harvested in Florida since 2000, according to the conservation commission. It's unknown exactly how many are slithering through the wetlands.
Officials hope the competition will help rid the Everglades of the invaders while raising awareness about the risks that exotic species pose to Florida's native wildlife.
Keenan and Burd emerged from the Everglades empty-handed Saturday, but they planned to return Sunday, hoping for cooler temperatures that would drive heat-seeking snakes into sunny patches along roads and levees.
Burd still deemed the hunt a success. "For me, I take back to my friends and community that there is a beautiful environment out here. It's opening the picture from just the python issue to the issue of how do we protect our environment," she said.
It sounds like the second act of a sci-fi horror flick but, really, it's pretty much Florida's plan for dealing with an infestation of Burmese pythons that are eating their way through a fragile ecosystem.
Nearly 800 people signed up for the month-long "Python Challenge" that started Saturday afternoon. The vast majority - 749 - are members of the general public who lack the permits usually required to harvest pythons on public lands.
"We feel like anybody can get out in the Everglades and figure out how to try and find these things," said Nick Wiley, executive director of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "It's very safe, getting out in the Everglades. People do it all the time
Twenty-eight python permit holders also joined the hunt at various locations in the Everglades. The state is offering cash prizes to whoever brings in the longest python and whoever bags the most pythons by the time the competition ends at midnight Feb. 10.
Dozens of would-be python hunters showed up for some last-minute training in snake handling Saturday morning at the University of Florida Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center in Davie.
The training came down to common sense: Drink water, wear sunscreen, don't get bitten by anything and don't shoot anyone.
Many of the onlookers dressed in camouflage, though they probably didn't have to worry about spooking the snakes. They would have a much harder time spotting the splotchy, tan pythons in the long green grasses and woody brush of the Everglades.
"It's advantage-snake," mechanical engineer Dan Keenan concluded after slashing his way through a quarter-mile of scratchy sawgrass, dried leaves and woody overgrowth near a campsite in the Big Cypress National Preserve, which is about 50 miles southeast of Naples and is supervised by the National Park Service.
Keenan, of Merritt Island, and friend Steffani Burd of Melbourne, a statistician in computer security, holstered large knives and pistols on their hips, so they'd be ready for any python that crossed their path. The snakes can grow to more than 20 feet in length.
The most useful tool they had, though, was the key fob to their car. Burd wanted to know that they hadn't wandered too far into the wilderness, so Keenan clicked the fob until a reassuring beep from their car chirped softly through the brush.
The recommended method for killing pythons is the same for killing zombies: a gunshot to the brain, or decapitation to reduce the threat. (The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals doesn't approve of the latter method, though.)
Pythons are kind of the zombies of the Everglades, though their infestation is less deadly to humans. The snakes have no natural predators, they can eat anything in their way, they can reproduce in large numbers and they don't belong here.
Florida currently prohibits possession or sale of the pythons for use as pets, and federal law bans the importation and interstate sale of the species.
Wildlife experts say pythons are just the tip of the invasive species iceberg. Florida is home to more exotic species of amphibians and reptiles than anywhere else in the world, said John Hayes, dean of research for the University of Florida's Institute for Food and Agricultural Sciences.
Roughly 2,050 pythons have been harvested in Florida since 2000, according to the conservation commission. It's unknown exactly how many are slithering through the wetlands.
Officials hope the competition will help rid the Everglades of the invaders while raising awareness about the risks that exotic species pose to Florida's native wildlife.
Keenan and Burd emerged from the Everglades empty-handed Saturday, but they planned to return Sunday, hoping for cooler temperatures that would drive heat-seeking snakes into sunny patches along roads and levees.
Burd still deemed the hunt a success. "For me, I take back to my friends and community that there is a beautiful environment out here. It's opening the picture from just the python issue to the issue of how do we protect our environment," she said.
@Scoondog I don't mind snakes but spiders are a different story!
Sounds like a great hunt! Hopefully they kill all the pythons in Florida!! Who in their right mind would want to own a Python anyways....
@GOCOUGS Many, MANY people own pythons. They are beautiful, interesting, and have a calm demeanor. They are not for everyone, obviously, but people certainly aren't "out of their minds" to own a python.
This is quite sad. Beautiful creatures who did not deserve this fate. However, I see no other option in protecting the natural habitat there. It's a shame this is more of a kill hunt rather than a relocation hunt. Again, however, then what do you do with the animals once they are captured? It's a crappy situation all around. :(.  On behalf of all the people who did you wrong and led you to this fate, I'm sorry my slithery friends. To quote "burmesepythondude",  people suck.
Sounds like an episode of the Simpsons. Not something to pattern your life after.Â
Very sad, I love these animals. Once again, people are the problem: all because a small group of irresponsible snake owners released their (unwanted) pets into the wild. I admit they have become a significant problem in the everglades, but the government again had to save the country and restrict transport of these snakes over any state lines, not just Florida where the problem is. So if I move out of the state, I could not bring my snakes and technically would be committing a felony under the Federal âLacey Actâ. Now we have every swamp thing who owns a gun out there trying to kill them for the $$. People suck.
 @burmesepythondude You would think Florida would WANT people taking them out of the state. Or does the law prohibit taking them with you like from WA to ID, too? It's not like they'd survive an Idaho winter...
@katiemcc @burmesepythondude Lacey Act prohibits any interstate transport of these animals, so crossing ANY state line is illegal (i.e. Washington into Oregon). And the key point is they can only survive in Florida, so why does the rest of the nation come under restriction., Believe it or not, there are (or now were) a lot of breeders that will lose a lot of their business because of this. They do make very good pets if you can accomodate their size.
@katiemcc Sorry to hear that, was a small battle with the wife getting the ones I have now! Been through Boa's, Balls and the Burmese, but just love these gentle giants! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAX0oNRIw_w
 @burmesepythondude I had a couple of ball pythons for a while, great snakes but they were big enough for me. I would love to get another snake but hubby won't even let the dogs in the house, there's no way he'll let me have a snake!
And the gun nuts flock to Florida so they can get a chance to kill something.
 @cyclops hopefully they kill all the pythons in florida!Â
 @cyclops Ya, because we cannot kill something here.... with, you know, a Hunting License?  Sheesh.  Getting pretty easy to see the problem with everyone crying about guns and needing to get rid of them, they are ignorant.  (sorry, I gotta go, my gun is calling me and needs to feed)
And like Metallica say's "Kill em All"