Forget the ants. This guy won’t stop with your picnic basket.
Tag Archives | invasive species
Florida Launches ’2013 Python Challenge’
Picture: CGrapes429 (PD): Burmese Python in Florida Everglades
Rednecks: When you absolutely, positively, got to kill every motherf*ckin’ python in the swamp, accept no substitutes.
Burmese pythons have been threatening Florida’s ecosystem for years, so the state is turning to the public for help in the form of a hunting contest to cull the population.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has announced the 2013 Python Challenge beginning in January.
“We are hoping to gauge from the python challenge the effectiveness of using an incentive-based model as a tool to address this problem,” says Florida Wildlife Commission spokeswoman Carli Segelson.A grand prize of $1,500 will be awarded to the person who kills the most pythons, and $1,000 will go to the person who bags the longest one. According to the rules, road kill will not be eligible.
Participants will pay a $25 registration fee and complete an online training course.
Rock, Rock, Rock Python!
According to the UK’s Mirror News, a couple on safari picked up an unwanted hitchhiker: a 16 foot-long rock python. The car’s owner flipped the hood and waited for it to exit the vehicle, thereby crossing what I call the “Oh, hell no!” barrier.
Rock pythons are a relatively common form of constrictor found in Africa’s tropical jungles, where they commonly reach lengths of 20 feet. While the rock python, like most snakes, normally avoids contact with human beings, when cornered they can quickly become aggressive. There are several documented incidences of the species killing and even consuming people, mostly children. Despite this, they’re readily available in the American pet trade, a fact that came under national scrutiny following the 2009 death of a two year-old child that was strangled in her bed by her mother’s boyfriend’s escaped python.
Rock pythons, like several other breeds of exotic constrictors, have established breeding populations in the Florida everglades.… Read the rest
Found in Florida: Record-Breaking Burmese Python Pregnant with 87 Eggs
Picture: CGrapes429 (PD)
Burmese pythons have settled into the Florida Everglades quite nicely, and it seems that they’re not going to be leaving any time soon. Thanks to irresponsible pet owners, the massive snakes have established a breeding population and are eating their way through native wildlife with merry abandon. Check out this worrisome discovery:
A double record-setting Burmese python has been found in the Florida Everglades. At 17 feet, 7 inches (5.3 me
ters) in length, it is the largest snake of its kind found in the state and it was carrying a record 87 eggs. Scientists say the finding highlights how dangerously comfortable the invasive species has become in its new home.
The snake was almost 165 pounds, easily big enough to kill a human being. Researchers say that they find several every day that they go into the Everglades. Think you’ll be python-free as long as you stay away from Florida?… Read the rest
