:(. Burm shot in Flordia

[towelie4365]

I've been living here half my life and can say that unfortunately these things need to happen. Sad that this is the way it must happen and the truth is we may never be able to reverse the actions of irresponsible pet owners who have released these snakes into the environment. At the rate at which these large snakes reproduce we can only hope to keep their population in check, if that. The FL panther is nearing extinction extremely quickly and far as I know the numbers have dwindled so rapidly that the current numbers is estimated below 100!!! That being said, even a FL panther could fall victim to a burm, or other large non-native constrictors not to mention the competition over prey items. These snakes are also having a great impact on bird population, birds that are often responsible for transportation seeds of native plants (plants which then provide homes to many, many other native fauna) and thus these snakes are effecting more native species than initially thought. I understand there is a bounty for these snakes and though I am a peace loving, snake infatuated man I support the hunt.

I think most burmese pythons in the everglades came from a breeding facility that was destroyed in hurricane Andrew, not from irresponsible owners.

On another note, there are TONS of other invasive species in North America: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of..._North_America . I wonder why rats, cats, dogs etc aren't banned from being transported across state lines... I think its ridiculous that they made the laws restricting owning them as pets, since the problem is already there and irreversible.

I highly doubt hunting will help much with the problem.