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JimInMD 
Group: Members
Posts: 3112
Joined: Feb. 2011
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Posted on: Jan. 12 2013, 12:13 pm |
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http://abcnews.go.com/blogs....hunters
I almost put this in TPA, but I'm hopeful it will do ok here.
So, what are the group thoughts? I'm not really sure it's a wise idea to have people tromping through the Everglades in search of a prize winning apex preditor when they may not be terribly aware of how dangerous the swamp can be. For people like our esteemed friend Roger, he knows his risks and how to avoid them. For someone out of area just looking for a good story and prize money, I see Darwin's fingerprints all over this.
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Checking out for a while, find me on FB.
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| Post Number: 2
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bad knees
Group: Members
Posts: 2384
Joined: May 2007
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Posted on: Jan. 12 2013, 12:18 pm |
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Tons of people skilled enough down there to hunt them. Like the iguanas, big problem. Except the pythons can Tolerate the cold better. Reality show, perhaps?
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There's a story behind that!
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| Post Number: 3
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JimInMD
Group: Members
Posts: 3112
Joined: Feb. 2011
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Posted on: Jan. 12 2013, 12:22 pm |
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http://www.pythonchallenge.org/toolkit/euthanasia.aspx
I was also surprised to learn that the head of the animal would still feel pain long after decapitation unless the brain was destroyed.
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Checking out for a while, find me on FB.
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| Post Number: 4
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Roger
Group: Members
Posts: 1908
Joined: Feb. 2002
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Posted on: Jan. 12 2013, 1:02 pm |
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They had a brief training before turning these folks loose in the glades. I suspect that many of them will give up or not venture into the glades very far. The water level falls this time of year but it is not called the river of grass for nothing. The park has only one road that goes from Homestead to Flamingo. The rest is accessible either by foot or boat and much of the area is hard to penetrate.
The python problem threatens the wildlife of the glades. You do not see raccoons and rabbits in the campgrounds anymore. Pythons have been found with birds such as the White Ibis in their stomachs. They will consume deer, alligators etc. Not much is safe from them.
This hunt is an experiment to gather data and see how many snakes are killed. Once the hunt is completed they will evaluate the results to see if it is worth doing again.
While I received my master in biology and was a herpetologist all so long ago I know my limits and venturing deep into the glades is not something I want to do. I will stick with paddling around the edge of the glades.
For more information the home page for the ENP has a link to python information.
Below is a picture of a python taken from the glades. It had a 76 lb deer in its stomach.
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“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” -Mark Twain
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| Post Number: 5
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Ben2World
Group: Members
Posts: 24112
Joined: Jun. 2005
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Posted on: Jan. 12 2013, 1:53 pm |
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They should do "man v snake" contests at county fairs and charge money.
Not to leave out the womenfolk -- there should also be snake recipe contests. 
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The world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page. -- St. Augustine
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| Post Number: 6
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| Post Number: 7
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spindle
Group: Members
Posts: 22197
Joined: Dec. 2003
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Posted on: Jan. 12 2013, 10:21 pm |
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I have faith in mans ability to extinct an animal from an ecosystem. Getting paid for it is extra incentive.
I almost feel sorry for the snakes.
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| Post Number: 8
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Lamebeaver
trail? I don't need no stinkin trail!
Group: Members
Posts: 16346
Joined: Aug. 2004
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Posted on: Jan. 12 2013, 10:25 pm |
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Python tastes jes like chicken!
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| Post Number: 9
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Roger
Group: Members
Posts: 1908
Joined: Feb. 2002
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Posted on: Jan. 12 2013, 10:40 pm |
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They may taste like chicken but given where they live and there place on the food chain their meat most likely will have enough mercury to prevent them from being marketed. There are lot warning signs in the glades concerning the mercury in the fish and how much one should consume.
Humans have a remarkable ability to kill native animals off but they have not fared as well when it comes to killing introduced animals.
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“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” -Mark Twain
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| Post Number: 10
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| Post Number: 12
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CajunHiker
Carnival Time!
Group: Members
Posts: 22569
Joined: Jun. 2006
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Posted on: Jan. 13 2013, 9:13 am |
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Oh send them, please ... evolution and survival of the fittest and all that! 
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"Mardi Gras is the love of life. It is the harmonic convergence of our food, our music, our creativity, our eccentricity, our neighborhoods, and our joy of living. All at once." - Chris Rose
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| Post Number: 13
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double cabin
Group: Members
Posts: 15549
Joined: Nov. 2005
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Posted on: Jan. 13 2013, 9:47 am |
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Unlike some other animals out there I don't think anyone here is going to argue these snakes aren't incredibly destructive invasive species.
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We have nothing to fear but an industry of fear...and man skirts.
http://www.facebook.com/media/albums/?id=129511480442251
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| Post Number: 14
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Dave Senesac
Group: Members
Posts: 3049
Joined: Jun. 2002
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Posted on: Jan. 14 2013, 3:31 pm |
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Would be a good idea for someone to create a cage trap with a mouse or rat inside that could not escape and had food to keep it alive. The trap would only have an opening wide enough for a snake to slide into. Of course the creative part is figuring a way to keep a small rat inside a cage that has an opening larger than its body size. Maybe some kind of hogtie string. Would need to put some food/water in cage for the rat. Once a snake entered in far enough inside, it would get impaled by a spring trigger.
They could dump cages all over the Everglades and later come back and pick them up. That would also tell them quickly where and where not infestations were.
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...David
http://davidsenesac.com
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| Post Number: 15
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CajunHiker
Carnival Time!
Group: Members
Posts: 22569
Joined: Jun. 2006
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Posted on: Jan. 15 2013, 12:22 am |
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That'd be great! Fresh food for the gators without even having to work for it!! 
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"Mardi Gras is the love of life. It is the harmonic convergence of our food, our music, our creativity, our eccentricity, our neighborhoods, and our joy of living. All at once." - Chris Rose
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| Post Number: 16
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FnAskippy
Group: Members
Posts: 1095
Joined: Nov. 2009
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Posted on: Jan. 15 2013, 2:33 am |
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What a farce. A buddy of mine had a contract to repair all of the tree damage on the park road after hurricane  Lost track....in 2004 or so. There werent any leaves on the trees and the pythons were hanging from the branches like spaghetti from the ceiling fan at an Italians retirement party. You could have killed hundreds and hundreds a day.More with an airboat.Couldn't happen. The park was officially "closed" due to a declaration of natural disaster. The bureaucratic idiocracy at work, and mindless idiots to enforce it,yet again.Now it's time for a "war on pythons" which will be a complete failure jut like the "wars" on everything else. The guy in Lauderdale is gonna make the bank selling those skins ! Every Redneck wanna be in China and India will be sporting a pair of boots.
I rikey ! Make me rook rike Clinn Easwoo !
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Pura Vida !
www.arenalbotanicalgarden.com
Lake Arenal, Costa Rica
"When you shop, you're really voting for the kind of world you want."
Gary Hershberg
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| Post Number: 17
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ol-zeke
me in the Tetons
Group: Members
Posts: 10918
Joined: Sep. 2002
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Posted on: Feb. 18 2013, 4:23 pm |
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http://abcnews.go.com/US....8530683
While the hunt was not overly effective, given that the take was so small, the organizer seems to be very bright. Keeping the snakes alive when brought in, and putting a radio in them, seems too intelligent. Now all they need to do is track them, which may be easier said than done.
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Everything I know, I learned by doing it wrong at least twice.
The easiest way to ruin a Friday is to realize it is only Tuesday.
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| Post Number: 18
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Ecocentric
Group: Members
Posts: 3983
Joined: Jun. 2009
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Posted on: Feb. 18 2013, 5:48 pm |
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I'm not too optimistic about python eradication, but I would like a matching vest to go with new boots
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"Travel suggestions from strangers are like dancing lessons from God." -Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
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| Post Number: 19
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| Post Number: 20
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Ben2World
Group: Members
Posts: 24112
Joined: Jun. 2005
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Posted on: Feb. 18 2013, 6:28 pm |
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The sound box of the er hu or Chinese violin is faced with a piece of python skin. 
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The world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page. -- St. Augustine
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| Post Number: 21
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SW Mtn backpacker
Born to hike, forced to work ...
Group: Members
Posts: 6742
Joined: Jul. 2006
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Posted on: Feb. 18 2013, 10:08 pm |
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Invasive species, so I have no problem with Fla trying to take them out anyway they can. Snakes can have lots of little snakes, however.
Of course lax laws allowed them into the state in the first place (not only unique to Fla). It's not the snakes fault, but that species should not be there.
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Usually Southwest and then some.
In wildness is the preservation of the world. - Henry Thoreau
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| Post Number: 22
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TDale
Group: Members
Posts: 13340
Joined: Jun. 2005
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Posted on: Feb. 18 2013, 10:39 pm |
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Y'all haven't seen Swamp People on TV yet, have you?
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"Sure as I know anything, I know this - they will try again...They'll swing back to the belief that they can make people... better. And I do not hold to that. So no more runnin'. I aim to misbehave."
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| Post Number: 23
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| Post Number: 24
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Reminiscence
Group: Members
Posts: 3579
Joined: Sep. 2007
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Posted on: Feb. 18 2013, 11:18 pm |
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(Panhandler @ Feb. 18 2013, 5:55 pm)
QUOTE
(Ecocentric @ Feb. 18 2013, 5:48 pm)
QUOTE I'm not too optimistic about python eradication, but I would like a matching vest to go with new boots Y'know, my python boot is too tight I couldn't get it off last night A week went by, an' now it's July I finally got it off An' my girl-friend cry "You got STINK FOOT! http://www.lyricstime.com/frank-zappa-stink-foot-lyrics.html
Love Zappa.
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Survival Skills 101 • Eat Better
