Forget about rescuing the pythons in the Everglades, let's just kill them all -.-

[loonunit]

I understand the comparison to the hogs in Texas.
However, even that I do not support since I am not an advocate of hunting.

Okay, think of the deer problem in the northeast, then. Deer populations are naturally controlled in the wilds of N. America by predators like wolves, but we've removed that. In that case it's our job to replace the predator we removed from the ecosystem.

In the burm case, it's our job to fix the ecosystem we messed up by releasing giant megafauna with no native natural predators. In both cases it would be nice if we could find a way to sterilize the populations rather than wiping them out with hunting... but lacking that, if we don't hunt, the rest of the ecosystem will suffer. That is: lots of other animals will be outcompeted and die out.

Sometimes that can result in the entire ecosystem dying out and being replaced with an entire other ecosystem, like when beavers die out and swamps turn into grasslands, or invasive beetles kill pine forest, or invasive grass + wildfires turn saguaro cactus desert into brushland...

[jmitch]

What everyone forgets is this has been a issues for years now. Also everyone wants tp blame iton the owners. Which some of it is people releasing animals, but pull up what hurricane andrew did to miami zoo and all the loose animals they had to catch. Now think of all the destroyed houses anf snakes that got loose. Miami is right next door to the glades. Either way us letting them loose or mother nature doing it. For those of you who have not been to thw everglades it is amazing and burms will destroy it. Love my snake, but I do supportgetting them out of the glades.

[wolfy-hound]

First, none of the accreditted scientists are saying there's 150,000 burms in the Everglades. That number was made up by a few media sensationalists writing the article to alarm people. Most estimates are FAR lower. The estimate was also done a few years ago, prior to the two seriously hard winters we had here, which killed off a lot of the burmese in Florida.

Does this mean that there's no burmese problem? No. But it means stop believing every media article you run across. As far as "why only 300" caught? question... it's the Everglades. Have you any idea the size of the Everglades? Have you ever seen it? It's a giant marsh/swamp/waterways, with shifting natural canals designated by floating mats of grass that can be acres in size, with small hillocks of actual ground. Burmese are quite happy to sink under the muddy murky water and grass and sit there for an hour. Exactly how easy do you think it is to find snakes in a swamp? Not every Burmese python in the Everglades is 16 feet either, so don't make the mistake of thinking it'd be easy to spot a "giant snake".

The article doesn't tell people to go out and kill every snake. It DOES show that efforts are being made to eliminate or lessen the impact of the invasive species.

To the one person who stated they would be "setting up" near the Everglades to take burmese in... have you already be designated a Florida resident and gotten a grandfathered-in permit? Because if you dont' ALREADY have a permit, you are not allowed to own burmese. That's state law now. Only people who already had one or more of the prohbited species PRIOR to the law being enacted got the permits. You could apply for a permit for those "restricted" species for about two years, then they changed it to NO further permits, and so anyone who doesn't have a permit, can't get a permit. It was made to allow existing pet owners to keep their pets, not to allow any new pet owners to get the species on the *big five* list.

Burmese are awesome animals, and great pets for those inclined to keep a giant python. They don't belong in the Everglades, they must be removed from the Everglades and there is NO rescue to take in thousands of burmese pythons to house and feed them for up to 30 years(their possible lifespan).

If they have not changed the rules, the state requires any burmese caught in the Everglades to be killed(with the few exceptions of certain permit-holding people). You can(I believe) keep the dead snake for meat and hide if you want. You cannot go to the Everglades, hunt down a burmese python and take it home as a pet.

[purplemuffin]

Yeah, I remember someone asking Shawn from the python hunters about it. They said you have to have something like 5 permits and then the people taking in the animal have to have permits in order to save any of them, not anyone can just go in and take them in. I don't remember the specifics though!

[CCfive]

I understand they do not belong nor are welcome there. However, people have brought this issue upon themselves.
If anything extermination should be the last resort to solve the problem.
This article is presenting to society that it is "okay" to kill any snake they see regardless of the type.

It would be impossible to place them all in good homes. Add that their wild, so yuo now have to worry about parasites, disease, a wild tempermant, and the fact that they're so big only a small percentage of hobbyist can/will keep them.
I applaud your love for the animals, but they are devastating the local ecosystem, what about thenative animals that are suffering? Unfortunately, humanely exterminating them to eradicate them from the everglades has become the only option.

[Anya]

Whew. This thread brought me down.

[Generationshell]

Or we could just put up a bunch of pinatas of dead rats in various places and just wait. I'm sure a few would come a slitheron. (btw I'm just joking)

But no really, everyone on here has a good points. Realistically it is the only way.
However, I just think that if they really want to start lowering the population of pythons in the everglades they really need to up their efforts. I'm not saying it is easy nor am I saying they haven't been trying. But almost everyone of you justified why this is a serious issue. We can't hope the problem goes away on it's own. And I guarantee killing 300 some odd a year is not leveling out the hatchlings that are hatched out each year.

One thing this thread reminds me of is just how amazing of a creature they are. Makes me love them more :]

[The Hedgehog]

First, none of the accreditted scientists are saying there's 150,000 burms in the Everglades. That number was made up by a few media sensationalists writing the article to alarm people. Most estimates are FAR lower. The estimate was also done a few years ago, prior to the two seriously hard winters we had here, which killed off a lot of the burmese in Florida.

Does this mean that there's no burmese problem? No. But it means stop believing every media article you run across. As far as "why only 300" caught? question... it's the Everglades. Have you any idea the size of the Everglades? Have you ever seen it? It's a giant marsh/swamp/waterways, with shifting natural canals designated by floating mats of grass that can be acres in size, with small hillocks of actual ground. Burmese are quite happy to sink under the muddy murky water and grass and sit there for an hour. Exactly how easy do you think it is to find snakes in a swamp? Not every Burmese python in the Everglades is 16 feet either, so don't make the mistake of thinking it'd be easy to spot a "giant snake".

The article doesn't tell people to go out and kill every snake. It DOES show that efforts are being made to eliminate or lessen the impact of the invasive species.

To the one person who stated they would be "setting up" near the Everglades to take burmese in... have you already be designated a Florida resident and gotten a grandfathered-in permit? Because if you dont' ALREADY have a permit, you are not allowed to own burmese. That's state law now. Only people who already had one or more of the prohbited species PRIOR to the law being enacted got the permits. You could apply for a permit for those "restricted" species for about two years, then they changed it to NO further permits, and so anyone who doesn't have a permit, can't get a permit. It was made to allow existing pet owners to keep their pets, not to allow any new pet owners to get the species on the *big five* list.

Burmese are awesome animals, and great pets for those inclined to keep a giant python. They don't belong in the Everglades, they must be removed from the Everglades and there is NO rescue to take in thousands of burmese pythons to house and feed them for up to 30 years(their possible lifespan).

If they have not changed the rules, the state requires any burmese caught in the Everglades to be killed(with the few exceptions of certain permit-holding people). You can(I believe) keep the dead snake for meat and hide if you want. You cannot go to the Everglades, hunt down a burmese python and take it home as a pet.

THANK YOU!

I used to live in SWFL. For those of you who don't understand, the Everglades basically goes from Ft. Myers (West Coast of Florida) across to Northern Ft. Lauderdale and even more north (East Coast of Florida). The actual size of the everglades is absolutely astounding.

As said above, it's a bunch of grass that floats on top of the water and is constantly changing. It's a Burm's paradise.....Which is the problem. The amount of total animals in the everglades is absolutely mind-boggling.

Florida's invasive species are massive in numbers. Even the little brown anoles (Who don't cause too much of an issue) are an invasive species. I'm all for eradicating the Burmese pythons from the everglades. Take yourself out of the shoes of a pet owner, and realize how much damage they are doing to the environment. You might change your mind.

Edit: Added a picture for your reference:


Red is considered "Everglades"
The yellow is basically all the parts that are giant wetlands that is very inaccessible unless you have an airboat.

Hope that covers the actual scope of how large of an area we are talking here. This isn't some small park that can covered in a day.

[CustomChevyGuy]

Its very sad that they have to be killed, however the local wildlife rescues/zoos and other animal shelters that usually take in snakes have reached/ exceeded their capacities for these animals. They are now refusing almost any snakes, whether they are pets being given up, or wild caught animals being removed from their new found habitats.

I have personally tried to contact a number of these places to take in wild snakes removed from friends homes and they have all told me the same story. "No room", "no availability" I even contacted a two of the groups that specialize in the python removal of the everglades, and they said the same thing. Unless you can find a private citizen that wants to take them, you're outta luck. There are too many of them, and no where else to put them.

The important thing is that we can at least be made aware of their impact by studying their contents.


Wolfy-hound and Hedgehog make great points as well!
Its not just anyone that can take these animals in, and you have to have quite a bit of knowledge in order to get a permit to hunt them, including 10+ years of experience plus a degree and other knowledge. In addition to the few with permits to own/keep invasive species.
The size of the glades itself in addition to the various terrain you encounter is a double whammy, completely in the snakes favor.

[Generationshell]

I am not disputing the consequences and repercussions that the pythons are having on the ecosystem in the Everglades.

Yes it is a huge area. But c'mon only 330 or something are recorded as having been removed from the whole area last year. Yes it is a huge area, no it isn't easy.
But their efforts seem to be lacking just based on the data from the past couple years.