Python

[Weldabeast]

This video has been around for a while. I'm sure all you South Florida guys have seen it.....

 

[Weldabeast]

https://medium.com/environmental-sc...d-eating-deer-larger-than-itself-3aebe8acf60a

 

[bongo]

Never saw that and have been hunting around there since I was 12.
Ochopee is where the Big Cypress check station is.

Sent from my POCOPHONE F1 using Tapatalk

 

[Weldabeast]

I'm glad they haven't made it this far north yet..... They are caught here locally but they say no breeding population and they're all pet release.

 

[EricS]

Were keeping an eye on our neighbors to the south. These warmer winters we’ve had lately has everyone a little worried.

Florida Python Team Catches 18-Foot Snake

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) Python Action Team has now removed 900 Burmese pythons from the wild in Florida, including a large 18-foot, 4-inch long female python—the largest ever captured by the team. FWC PAT members Cynthia Downer and Jonathan Lopez captured the...

www.gon.com

 

[Deltahuntr]

In the 60’s to early 70’s alligators were shot to the edge of extinction from Texas to the Carolinas. Alligators live in the cypress swamps and the coastal marsh and so does the python. We now have more technology, much better means of transportation in these areas and a larger number of hunters. Why can’t the python population be controlled? It doesn’t make sense to me unless it’s just crying liberals and federal regulation that is protecting this invasion species.

 

[Weldabeast]

I wasn't hunting but hiking ocala forest and came across a troop of rhesus macaques.....the male was pretty big and aggressive, no human fear. Not sure if it's legal but i would like to bow hunt them.

 

[Weldabeast]

In the 60’s to early 70’s alligators were shot to the edge of extinction from Texas to the Carolinas. Alligators live in the cypress swamps and the coastal marsh and so does the python. We now have more technology, much better means of transportation in these areas and a larger number of hunters. Why can’t the python population be controlled? It doesn’t make sense to me unless it’s just crying liberals and federal regulation that is protecting this invasion species.

The everglades consist of 1.5 million acres...... Mostly unnavigable except airboat

 

[Bach55]

No thanks!! Indiana works just fine for me!

 

[Weldabeast]

I've never seen them in a wma but we got nutria in the ditches and ponds in town...

 

[Weldabeast]

It doesn’t make sense to me unless it’s just crying liberals and federal regulation that is protecting this invasion species.

Open season and no bag limit on invasives.....i think fwc is doing a good job.

The same could be said to the the states that have hog problems......some critters are better at adapting and surviving

 

[Deltahuntr]

The everglades consist of 1.5 million acres...... Mostly unnavigable except airboat

A search of the USGS site says Louisiana has 3 million acres of wetlands not all marsh. That doesn’t include the other coastal states (including Florida). I’m not trying to start an argument here but another reptile was shot to the brink of extinction in the same habitat.

 

[EricS]

I wasn't hunting but hiking ocala forest and came across a troop of rhesus macaques.....the male was pretty big and aggressive, no human fear. Not sure if it's legal but i would like to bow hunt them.

Since public outcry has halted every effort Florida fish and wildlife has made to control this population of feral, herpes carrying monkeys, including trapping and sending to zoos I would say it would be highly frowned upon. I also say go for it and don’t post your pics on social media.

 

[brydan]

In the 60’s to early 70’s alligators were shot to the edge of extinction from Texas to the Carolinas. Alligators live in the cypress swamps and the coastal marsh and so does the python. We now have more technology, much better means of transportation in these areas and a larger number of hunters. Why can’t the python population be controlled? It doesn’t make sense to me unless it’s just crying liberals and federal regulation that is protecting this invasion species.

I'm just doing some speculating here but I'd guess it's a combination of things. Invasive species often don't have the same natural population controls (food sources, predators, etc) that native species have that naturally keep their populations in check. While people were becoming aware of the situation and beginning to act on controlling the snakes, they were probably breeding essentially undisturbed allowing the population to grow very quickly and it takes a few years from when people start to act to in a serious way to seeing actual drops in population. Then consider people are hunting a new species living in a new environment, it takes time for hunters to figure out where they live, the best ways to hunt them,
develop new techniques and equipment, etc. Not unlike the learning curve when moving to a new part of the country to hunt deer. Even with all the information available and personal knowledge of the game, it takes a hunter a few years to get a new area dialed in. These guys are the same way.

I'm sure with the current focus on eradication, hunters have been coming up with all kinds strategies to kill as many as they can along with information coming in from biologists studying them that in the coming years we'll start seeing meaningful declines in the populations.

 

[Vtbow]

Man I hate snakes.....

 

[Deltahuntr]

Open season and no bag limit on invasives.....i think fwc is doing a good job.

The same could be said to the the states that have hog problems......some critters are better at adapting and surviving

Unfortunately the hogs are definitely a bureaucratic problem. LSU has created biologic control means for hogs that federal government will not allow. Tremendous land masses of (NWR) are not allowed to hog hunt for 9 months a year, never allowed to trap or use dogs. The hogs are a uphill, outgunned problem with federal protection. That’s why I included the “federal regulation “ term in the first post.

 

[EricS]

A search of the USGS site says Louisiana has 3 million acres of wetlands not all marsh. That doesn’t include the other coastal states (including Florida). I’m not trying to start an argument here but another reptile was shot to the brink of extinction in the same habitat.

I don’t think pythons float in open water with that distinct eyes to snout above the water line. They also had value for both food and hides. The same could be done with pythons but they would be harder to hunt and once people started making money on them they wouldn’t want them gone.

 

[GCTerpfan]

A search of the USGS site says Louisiana has 3 million acres of wetlands not all marsh. That doesn’t include the other coastal states (including Florida). I’m not trying to start an argument here but another reptile was shot to the brink of extinction in the same habitat.

There was significant monetary value in hunting alligators. I don't know but, I'm assuming python skin/meat doesn't have near the value or you would have every Tom, **** and Harry out hunting them. Of course then Florida would try to capitalize, sell tags and start managing them as a game species.

Edit: I see @EricS said the same thing as me seconds before I did.

 

[Nutterbuster]

The everglades consist of 1.5 million acres...... Mostly unnavigable except airboat

But unless I'm wrong, we put

Unfortunately the hogs are definitely a bureaucratic problem. LSU has created biologic control means for hogs that federal government will not allow. Tremendous land masses of (NWR) are not allowed to hog hunt for 9 months a year, never allowed to trap or use dogs. The hogs are a uphill, outgunned problem with federal protection. That’s why I included the “federal regulation “ term in the first post.

Same here in bama. They "want them gone" but they upgraded them from a non game to a game animal with state protections, won't let you hunt them year round on state land, and won't let you hunt them with anything but archery tackle or rimfire weapons most of the season...

Tell me and the rest of the river rats that you can shoot them year round with an 06. The population wouldn't increase...

 

[Deltahuntr]

I don’t think pythons float in open water with that distinct eyes to snout above the water line. They also had value for both food and hides. The same could be done with pythons but they would be harder to hunt and once people started making money on them they wouldn’t want them gone.

The skin should have value ie: boots, purses etc. I agree there would be other challenges in hunting the snakes but their habitat is considerably smaller than the alligators used as examples.