Everglades pythons (1 Viewer)

I have touched base with people within the park and here is the gist of it:

"Burmese pythons are not legally protected, but since hunting is not allowed in Everglades National Park, the pythons there are being exterminated by bounty hunters identified by the National Park Service. Collecting is not allowed, only extermination."

That said, they implied that if you 'accidentally' ran over a snake while driving down the main road, rangers are not going to be jumping out of the bushes to prosecute you. 'Protection' for the snakes is extremely lax in practice. Furthermore:

"It's best to check with the staff at ENP because some of the snakes have implanted transmitters. Also, I believe there is a program to examine any killed snake's stomach contents, so if you do lop off the head (only sure way of killing them), you need to schlep the body back to the Beard Center."

I have a friend who regularly herps within the park boundaries, and I can find information concerning that if interested. The rangers know him very well.

Carlos

csanchez7 said:

I have touched base with people within the park and here is the gist of it:

"Burmese pythons are not legally protected, but since hunting is not allowed in Everglades National Park, the pythons there are being exterminated by bounty hunters identified by the National Park Service. Collecting is not allowed, only extermination."

That said, they implied that if you 'accidentally' ran over a snake while driving down the main road, rangers are not going to be jumping out of the bushes to prosecute you. 'Protection' for the snakes is extremely lax in practice. Furthermore:

"It's best to check with the staff at ENP because some of the snakes have implanted transmitters. Also, I believe there is a program to examine any killed snake's stomach contents, so if you do lop off the head (only sure way of killing them), you need to schlep the body back to the Beard Center."

I have a friend who regularly herps within the park boundaries, and I can find information concerning that if interested. The rangers know him very well.

Carlos

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that marries up pretty well with what I heard regarding the law (I guess my use of the word "protected" was perhaps too strong, its more that you can't hunt them) save that i heard you were supposed to drop em off at beard live. I guess enforcement is being handled in a commonsense way (I'd understood the rangers can be a little difficult with herpers and as such one should be absolutely to the letter of the law).

I'll be hitting Florida in 2010 to visit relatives down there. Of course, what is a trip to Florida without birding and herping! I've never hit the Everglades, and although I'm not really into exotics too much I wouldn't mind bumping into a Burmese Python. I'd rather see some of those other snakes though, that I saw on this thread's starter's flickr (scarlet snake, mangrove saltmarsh, etc).

Anyhoo, I was in Florida last year for a scant two days, and during that time I read somewhere that you are encouraged to collect any Cuban Treefrogs you can find and place them in a sealed bag and stuff them in your freezer overnight. I forget the exact method; perhaps alcohol is supposed to be used? I only mention this because Cuban Treefrogs are a serious problem in Florida, outcompeting and devouring other, smaller native frogs. Just thought that was kind of interesting.

And no, I didn't have the heart to freeze any Cuban Treefrogs, even though I'd like to have helped the problem. (My dad accidentally ran one over at night though, so I guess he did his part :-O)

swamp_rattler said:

Of course, what is a trip to Florida without birding and herping! )

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It's a very sad trip indeed!

It's interesting what you said about freezing the Cuban Frogs. I think freezing amphibians is recognised by many scientists as been relatively humane, while others disagree.

Something certainly needs to be done to reduce the number of these frogs. In an ideal world, a small bounty could be offered for every live Cuban Tree Frog collected by the public. This would be a good way for kids to collect pocket money and would ensure only invasive frogs are euthanized (misidentified natives could be released).

Of course in reality unscrupulous individuals would set up breeding facilities to produce more frogs in order to collect the money.

hmmmm. I'm inclined to believe that in an area like florida, collecting CTFs is a bit of an exercise in futility. I can't believe it'll actually knock the population back surely?

Isurus said:

hmmmm. I'm inclined to believe that in an area like florida, collecting CTFs is a bit of an exercise in futility. I can't believe it'll actually knock the population back surely?

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I guess it would be a futile exercise. To be honest I don’t really know if enough about Cuban Tree Frogs to make an informed comment.

I’m still haunted by the Cane Toads that were so common on my trip to Australia, even as far north as Kakadu (NT). I have since wondered if a collection/eradication programme could have prevented the toads expanding, even if it didn’t eradicate them completely. In reality, there are many problems with such methods, not least the high reproductive rate of amphibians and the obviously the high cost involved.

skink1978 said:

I guess it would be a futile exercise. To be honest I don’t really know if enough about Cuban Tree Frogs to make an informed comment.

I’m still haunted by the Cane Toads that were so common on my trip to Australia, even as far north as Kakadu (NT). I have since wondered if a collection/eradication programme could have prevented the toads expanding, even if it didn’t eradicate them completely. In reality, there are many problems with such methods, not least the high reproductive rate of amphibians and the obviously the high cost involved.

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Also the fact that any attempts at culling here will be met with a rabid response from 'New-Agers' who believe that they have a 'right to live man'...

chowchilla said:

Also the fact that any attempts at culling here will be met with a rabid response from 'New-Agers' who believe that they have a 'right to live man'...

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Too true. I bumped into a few 'New-Agers' myself, especially on the east coast.