re: How does Florida get rid of a plague of pythons?

How have invasive pythons impacted Florida ecosystems?
Non-native Burmese pythons have established a breeding population in South Florida and are one of the most concerning invasive species in Everglades National Park. Pythons compete with native wildlife for food, which includes mammals, birds, and other reptiles. Severe mammal declines in Everglades National Park have been linked to Burmese pythons.

The most severe declines in native species have occurred in the remote southernmost regions of Everglades National Park, where pythons have been established the longest. In a 2012 study, populations of raccoons had dropped 99.3 percent, opossums 98.9 percent, and bobcats 87.5 percent since 1997. Marsh rabbits, cottontail rabbits, and foxes effectively disappeared.

The mammals that have declined most significantly have been regularly found in the stomachs of Burmese Pythons removed from Everglades National Park and elsewhere in Florida. Raccoons and opossums often forage for food near the water’s edge, which is a habitat frequented by pythons in search of prey.

https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/how-have-invasive-pythons-impacted-florida-ecosystems

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eah, but alligators aint crocodiles.

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There are already American crocs in the Everglades. Are you suggesting salties or Nile crocs?

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Are you suggesting salties or Nile crocs?

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What the hell could go wrong?

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Python vs. alligator:

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It is an absolute no-brainer, whack them on sight. And make importing any of them illegal.

Why does there need to be rules and regulations for them? They don't belong and they are destroying the native fauna.

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It is an absolute no-brainer, whack them on sight. And make importing any of them illegal.

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That point has passed. They are already everywhere and spreading north every year. I dont think anyone is bringing in more at this point

I personally do not think they are going any where. They are in a perfect environment for them and humans cant fight them in it..

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Current regulations say you have to catch the python live, by hand and dispatch it later. That alone will eliminate a lot of people from even trying to catch pythons.

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The policy wonk that came up with that should be fired. Pure stupidity. Sad for the birds down there.

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Current regulations say you have to catch the python live, by hand and dispatch it later. That alone will eliminate a lot of people from even trying to catch pythons. That's a really stupid regulation. For a dangerous invasive species that is destroying the animals in our native ecosystem, anything that works should be okay!

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No it’s not stupid. I’m all for shooting them. The issue is they are in Everglades National Park and wildlife management areas and other nature/ public areas. You can’t just allow people with guns to roam around looking for them to shoot, the general public is stupid.

Are there any national parks with hunting even of invasive species? There’s hunting on national wildlife refuges I know but fairly certain not in national parks.

They can’t freeze, so there’s a parallel where they basically will never move north on.

ETA: you can shoot them on private land year round

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The policy wonk that came up with that should be fired. Pure stupidity. Sad for the birds down there.

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Birds?? Hell, anything that walks, hops, crawls and flies is on the menu for those large snakes. If they can kill it, they'll eat it.

I've seen several shows about the folks that catch those snakes for a living and to a man they all say how the native animals are disappearing. There's less rabbits, coons, possum, deer, hogs, etc. than ever before, and it's directly tied to the explosion of the python population.

Now, they are moving out of the GLades and into neighboring areas where the human population is and pets are now prey.

How much they pay to take out some pythons in FL? About tree fiddy a pound? I'm in need of a job.