Python Hunting????

[mneptune]

Burmese Python Hunts With Bounty Proposed

State officials are pushing a plan to put a bounty on the Burmese pythons that have invaded the Everglades.

"If we can send someone to the moon, we can figure out how to get rid of these snakes," said Wildlife Commissioner Ron Bergeron.

Another wildlife commissioner, Rodney Barreto, offered to put up $10,000 of his own money to get the program started, reports the St. Petersburg Times.

The Burmese python, a non-native species, is considered one of the most damaging exotics to invade the Everglades, as well as one of the most elusive.

Federal officials estimate there could be more than 150,000 of them slithering through the River of Grass.

Some pythons killed by biologists had deer and bobcats in their stomachs.

But beware -- these are strong snakes. Park biologist Skip Snow brought along a big black box to the tour. Out of it he and two other biologists pulled a 16-foot python that they had captured in the park. It took all three of them to hold it down for Nelson, Salazar and U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek to get a good look.

Finding the pythons may be the hardest part of the program. Biologists have captured some pythons and put tiny transmitters in them, then released them back into the wild to try to track down others. They report several instances where they were standing right in the spot where the radio signal says a python should be, yet they could see absolutely nothing.

[Batch]

A guy I know that runs his airboat out there quite a bit says that when you run up on them they haul ass pretty quick. I spend a good deal of time in Big Cypress and have yet to see one. Though at the check station in Bear Island they had photos of one that they had killed and encouraged hunters to dispatch them when encountered.

I wonder how much the bounty will be. I've heard that in certain areas they can be seen from the road and taken fairly easily. But, I imagine that will change kind of quick once they are more actively hunted. The biologist, US Fish and Wildlife and the FWC are already actively hitting those spots.

[Capt'n Shane]

I see them run over throughout the year on the miccosukee reservation. I also saw one in the L-28 tie back one morning. It looked like a car tire moving through the water. Pretty big as far as I could tell.