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The war intensifies against the giant snakes that have devastated the Everglades National Park's wildlife.
May 31
BY DAVID FLESHLER - TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The roar of shotguns will sound in Everglades National Park, as the war intensifies against the Burmese pythons that have devastated the park’s wildlife.
The park announced Thursday that for the first time it will allow state-contracted python hunters to pursue the giant snakes within its boundaries. And for the first time, it will allow the use of firearms – shotguns only – to kill them.
Python hunter Dusty Crum carries one caught in the Florida Everglades before having it weighed and measured in Homestead, Fla. The state has been paying a select group of hunters to kill the invasive snakes on state lands in South Florida since March 2017. Associated Press/Wilfredo Lee
Although the park already uses more than two dozen of its own volunteers to catch pythons, the new initiative will triple the maximum number of snake hunters from 40 to 120.
The decision follows years of resistance by the national park, where hunting is prohibited. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission previously had been rebuffed in attempts to get state-authorized python hunters to work within its boundaries.
“We’ve gotten to the point where we’ve realized that this is a significant problem that requires us to be open-minded and flexible in the way that we approach it,” said Pedro Ramos, superintendent of Everglades National Park.
U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, an enthusiastic hunter whose department includes the National Park Service, has pressed for more federal land to be opened up to hunting. During an October visit to the park, Zinke expressed interest in “finding ways to invite citizens that want to be part of the solution to come into the park, partner with us and help us tackle the problem,” Ramos said.
But Ramos said the new initiative to go after the pythons shouldn’t be considered a hunt, in the sense that hunters come on other land to kill deer or ducks.
“It’s important to note that this is not a hunt that we’re introducing in Everglades National Park,” he said. “We’re inviting people that are interested in helping us tackle this problem come into the park and help us remove as many of these animals as we can out of the landscape.”
The state’s contribution to the park’s effort would come from the state Python Removal Contractor Program, in which specially trained snake hunters are paid to go after the snakes on state land, which includes portions of the Everglades outside the national park.
They earn $8.25-$15 and hour, plus $50 for each snake, $25 for every foot of length beyond four feet, and $200 for each python nest.
So far, about a year into the program, they have killed more than 100 pythons, said Kristen Sommers, section leader of the state wildlife commission’s Wildlife Impact Management Section.
There are currently 27 snake hunters in the program. Although applications are currently closed, the wildlife commission soon will be seeking applicants for the python hunting program. Applicants must have some snake-catching experience, an absence of wildlife violations and undergo training.
Natives of southern Asia, the pythons arrived in the Everglades from the exotic pet industry, escaping their enclosures or being released by pet owners.
Capable of killing a wide range of wildlife, they kill alligators, birds, deer and especially small mammals.
“The population of mammals, small mammals in particular, in Everglades National Park, has essentially collapsed,” Ramos said.
May 31
BY DAVID FLESHLER - TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The roar of shotguns will sound in Everglades National Park, as the war intensifies against the Burmese pythons that have devastated the park’s wildlife.
The park announced Thursday that for the first time it will allow state-contracted python hunters to pursue the giant snakes within its boundaries. And for the first time, it will allow the use of firearms – shotguns only – to kill them.
Python hunter Dusty Crum carries one caught in the Florida Everglades before having it weighed and measured in Homestead, Fla. The state has been paying a select group of hunters to kill the invasive snakes on state lands in South Florida since March 2017. Associated Press/Wilfredo Lee
Although the park already uses more than two dozen of its own volunteers to catch pythons, the new initiative will triple the maximum number of snake hunters from 40 to 120.
The decision follows years of resistance by the national park, where hunting is prohibited. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission previously had been rebuffed in attempts to get state-authorized python hunters to work within its boundaries.
“We’ve gotten to the point where we’ve realized that this is a significant problem that requires us to be open-minded and flexible in the way that we approach it,” said Pedro Ramos, superintendent of Everglades National Park.
U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, an enthusiastic hunter whose department includes the National Park Service, has pressed for more federal land to be opened up to hunting. During an October visit to the park, Zinke expressed interest in “finding ways to invite citizens that want to be part of the solution to come into the park, partner with us and help us tackle the problem,” Ramos said.
But Ramos said the new initiative to go after the pythons shouldn’t be considered a hunt, in the sense that hunters come on other land to kill deer or ducks.
“It’s important to note that this is not a hunt that we’re introducing in Everglades National Park,” he said. “We’re inviting people that are interested in helping us tackle this problem come into the park and help us remove as many of these animals as we can out of the landscape.”
The state’s contribution to the park’s effort would come from the state Python Removal Contractor Program, in which specially trained snake hunters are paid to go after the snakes on state land, which includes portions of the Everglades outside the national park.
They earn $8.25-$15 and hour, plus $50 for each snake, $25 for every foot of length beyond four feet, and $200 for each python nest.
So far, about a year into the program, they have killed more than 100 pythons, said Kristen Sommers, section leader of the state wildlife commission’s Wildlife Impact Management Section.
There are currently 27 snake hunters in the program. Although applications are currently closed, the wildlife commission soon will be seeking applicants for the python hunting program. Applicants must have some snake-catching experience, an absence of wildlife violations and undergo training.
Natives of southern Asia, the pythons arrived in the Everglades from the exotic pet industry, escaping their enclosures or being released by pet owners.
Capable of killing a wide range of wildlife, they kill alligators, birds, deer and especially small mammals.
“The population of mammals, small mammals in particular, in Everglades National Park, has essentially collapsed,” Ramos said.
