Florida starts a python hunt

[mariness]

Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission offering cash prizes to those who bring in the most dead pythons. If you are interested, it costs $25 to go hunt pythons in the Everglades, plus a half hour video. Cost of guns and ammunition not included.

On the bright side, this is the dry season in the Everglades.

Comments

[trouble]

Is this... like.. a regular thing?

[mariness]

New this year. So far 27 pythons have been brought in.

Which illustrates the problem right there -- a lot more feral pigs are brought down during pig season because the pigs are easier to locate. They're non native, so they have a hunting season, but limited because they have become a major food source for the no longer really native Florida panther which Florida wants back as a keystone predator that helped manage the scrubland and pine forest area. The pigs often head into the wetlands in the hotter months to stay cool in the water which is awesome if you are a pig and less awesome if you are a kite snail needing to grow so you can become food for a specific type of bird. But I digress. 27 pythons is not very much, but it's not a surprising number -- it's hard to find ANYTHING in the Everglades, and the pythons are among the hardest to find.