Python Challenge 2013, a month-long event sponsored by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, is open to hunters and non-hunters alike."
If you have 30 minutes and $25, and you can make your way to the Everglades, you can be a snake wrangler.
The Sunshine State is hosting a month-long “Python Challenge
" beginning Jan.12 with cash prizes of up to $1,500 for the biggest snakes caught. Wildlife officials urge caution, but beyond the online course and the fee, there are no other requirements to hunt down the Burmese pythons, which can reach nearly 18 feet in length and have devastated much of the southern Florida ecosystem.
" beginning Jan.12 with cash prizes of up to $1,500 for the biggest snakes caught. Wildlife officials urge caution, but beyond the online course and the fee, there are no other requirements to hunt down the Burmese pythons, which can reach nearly 18 feet in length and have devastated much of the southern Florida ecosystem.
“Aside from the obvious goal of reducing the Burmese python population in the Everglades, we also hope to educate the public about Burmese pythons in Florida and how people can help limit the impact of this and other invasive species in Florida,” said Carli Segelson, a spokeswoman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. “We are also using the Challenge to gauge the effectiveness of using an incentive-based model as one tool to address a challenging invasive species management problem.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/01/05/snake-hunting-season-for-any-takers-to-begin-this-month-in-florida/#ixzz2HoQz2csC
The largest Burmese python captured in the Everglades was 17ft 7in (5.3m)
The unorthodox approach is evidence of Florida wildlife officials’ desperation as much as their innovation. Since the Southeast Asian species was introduced to the region by irresponsible pet owners, the population of wild pythons has exploded. Experts believe there could be tens of thousands of the giant snakes living in an 8,000-square-kilometer region of southern Florida. The voracious predators have devastated the native species like deer, bobcats and raccoons.
Just last summer, researchers euthanized the largest python ever found in the Everglades -- a 17-foot snake that was carrying nearly 90 eggs -- proving that the reptile species has a strong foothold in the Florida swampland.
The commission’s website includes tips on how to identify Burmese pythons -- and how to kill them. Recommended methods for dispatching the animals include hacking off their heads with a machete or shooting them with a gun.
“Whichever method they use, hunters have an ethical obligation to dispatch the snake as humanely as possible,” Segelson said.
Snakes caught as part of the contest must be delivered to official drop-off sites with 24 hours. Researchers will log data that may be helpful in understanding the snakes' patterns, but then the snakes will be given back to the hunters. All American Gator, which harvests wild alligators for use in clothing, accessories and furniture, has said it will buy larger specimens.
Michael Dorcas, a herpetologist at Davidson College, says that the Everglades were uniquely suited for an explosion in the python population. In an interview with Yale Environment 360, Dorcas said it remains unclear just how big a geographic range these snakes might eventually occupy or how much ecological damage they could ultimately cause. What is clear, he said, is that it will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to remove the snakes from southern Florida.
, Dorcas said it remains unclear just how big a geographic range these snakes might eventually occupy or how much ecological damage they could ultimately cause. What is clear, he said, is that it will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to remove the snakes from southern Florida.
“You can go out and you can find pythons, but you can’t go out and find all the pythons — in any area,” Dorcas said. “They’re very secretive animals. And when you have a landscape that is very vast and inaccessible, it makes it very difficult to find these snakes.”
Burmese pythons are generally not dangerous to humans because the snakes are often afraid of a person’s higher stature.
Still, the snakes are capable of killing a child and some experts say the larger specimens could even overpower and kill an adult in certain circumstances. The Burmese python kills by squeezing its prey, then swallowing it.
First imported as pets, the feral snakes vie with native animals for food and have devastated mammal populations.
The US banned the import of the carnivorous snakes last year. But some wildlife officials said the ban came too late - after the southern Asia natives had begun breeding in the Everglades.
Burmese pythons, which can grow up to 23ft (7m) long, eat small mammals, birds and alligators.
Hunters from more than 32 states have signed up for the event. Among them will be US Senator Bill Nelson, a 70-year-old Democrat.
The state will train hunters to avoid mistaking the python for native snakes, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) spokeswoman Carli Segelson said.
The FWC recommends shooting the snakes in the head or using a device that drives a bolt into the brain. Hunters will be able to keep the pelts.
Decapitation is not recommended unless the brain is immediately destroyed, as snakes can remain conscious for a time after the head is separated from the body.
Florida python hunting contest draws hundreds | Reuters
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20994982
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