Pythons

[Walt]

This topic has emerged in other threads, I thought I would start a Python thread.

 

I'll start off by asking these questions:

What threat level do these preditors pose to campers in ENP?  We are potentially on their menu, what precautions should we be taking?

[Swamp Hunter]

"the only two things i would add are, the snakes move around wildly when you're trying to "dispatch" them... so it might be hard getting the alcohol where you need it."

 

I think what Bob meant was if you were unfortunate enough to get bitten, pouring alcohol on the head will get the snake to release its bite. Another person could assist.

 

In case you didnt see it, here is Bob Hills interview in 2009.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcr9blivD3s  I work at the Loop Road check station he mentions. The pythons have since expanded their range. I dont know how well they can adapt to the WW but there is an abundant food supply of rats and raccoons at the campsites from what I am hearing.. 

 

This is a good idea to start a Python thread to keep it out of the other topics.

[Chris H]

I know this is an old thread but I thought some of you might find this data interesting.  It shows the location of every reported python capture up until May 2012.  Download the attached KML file and double click it to load it Google Earth.  The KML file came from http://www.eddmaps.org/.  No surprise that the vast majority have been found near man-made structures like roads and levees since that’s where we find people too :-)

[Swamp Hunter]

sorry posted twice photo didnt load

[Swamp Hunter]

I dont know how to open your link but I am familiar with the map you speak of.. I have a copy at the check station.  I have a special form to fill out after every sighting or kill reported to me while Im at work. True, the vast majority of the sightings/kills have occured on roads and levees. Many are killed but just as many pythons are escaping after being sighted on or near roadways.

I didnt participate in the latest Python hunt but as far as I know, pythons cannot be "captured" or transported live. I realize you were trying to be nice by using the word "capture" but it might be misleading. I may be wrong but I always thought they must be killed or reported as a sighting (if not able to kill it)..

Unofficially speaking, sightings/kills appeared to be down in my area (BCNP) in late 2012 but I think its only because there are very few small mammals left to eat! 

 

 

There is also a map of every panther captured by FWC posted in Scientific Anerican Magazine thats cool as it shows the 4 different "DNA varieties" for lack of a better word.

 

[daniel]

...i thought you weren't allowed to kill them unless you had a special permit... ? (my buddy has one, and i was with him when we took care of the 14' er)...

[Swamp Hunter]

I dont know its seems to be a grey area.  I would imagine the majority of pythons on that map were killed on location. FWC says to kill them any way possible.  Unofficially the BCNP seems to be leaning toward a "dont ask, dont tell" policy.    I would think that you are not allowed to capture them and certainly not allowed to transport them live but the ENP may be different. Its possible that you have to drop them off before leaving the park to be killed in the ENP but I cant imagine being allowed to transport a live python out of the park..

 

You cant use a firearm in the ENP even though its now legal to open carry while camping or fishing. I cant imagine anyone prosecuting someone that kills a python with a machete or club, but it wouldnt surprise me in the ENP which is the python's stronghold.. Do you have a photo?

 

Anywhere in the Conservation Areas, Tamiami Trail, Khrome Ave or on any county/state road (which would be county property) pythons can be killed, as long as it can be done safely and humanely, without any type of  permit.

[Swamp Hunter]

I want to add that its against the law to discharge a firearm on or across a county road so you would need to use other methods to kill a python on county property on or near a roadway. Running it over with your vehicle would be acceptable, in my opinion, and a large amount of the dots on that map are road kills..

 

I am just guessing here... (maybe you could ask your friend)... but I would imagine a python permit is required to technically hunt pythons in the ENP. But if you are hiking, camping or fishing in the ENP and you happen upon a Burmese Python or any other exotic snake, I cant imagine that you would need a permit to kill it on site.

 

In the BCNP you cannot technically hunt pythons outside of the short new designated python season in Jan/Feb but you can and are encouraged to kill them with a firearm during the various hunting seasons if you possess a hunting liscense for that particular season. Outside of hunting season, its a grey area and you may need to use other methods such as a knife, machete or your vehicle. Do the deed as safely and as humanely as possible. Like I said before, I cant imagine being prosecuted for killing a python but Im pretty sure you could be arrested for transporting one live. With the new laws it may be illegal just to have a live python in possession without a permit.

daniel said:

...i thought you weren't allowed to kill them unless you had a special permit... ? (my buddy has one, and i was with him when we took care of the 14' er)...

[daniel]

...makes sense. we killed it with a fish bat... and we pinned it with the truck. it wasn't easy, or fun. i felt bad. but he just doesn't belong there... 

[Swamp Hunter]

killing is never fun for me either

[Chris H]

If you have Google Earth installed you should be able to click the KMZ file from my previous post to download it and then double-click it to load it into Google Earth assuming its installed. I attached a picture below if anyone has trouble loading it.

It looks like SW Miami/Homestead area has had the bulk of the population. It appears that none were found along the Florida Trail through Big Cypress.  Obviously the data is skewed based on ease and likelihood of encountering them along roads with borrow pits or levees vs the more difficult to access areas. Perhaps I just don't know my pythons but I expected to see a cluster around the Turner River.  My python experience does not go beyond watching all the episodes of Python Hunter by the way.

Good point Dale about them typically being killed and not captured. I was thinking along the lines of captured dead or alive :-)  I did read that they have been recently catching and releasing breeding females equipped with radio transmitters so they lead them to males which are then killed. If I remember correctly I believe I remember reading that 3 from the python hunt were equipped with radio transmitters and re released this way.   

Daniel, how did you guys spot yours and where did you find it?

[Swamp Hunter]

I didnt work the Python hunt, although I found out later I was needed but there were no funds, so I am unfamiliar with it.  I may volunteer next year, if needed, pay or no pay, to operate a check station.  I think you are correct in that it appeared some snakes were captured live. This would be a complete turn around from what I was instructed. I was told they must be killed.

Pythons in Florida is a very new experience and its understandable to have conflicting ideas on how to best solve the problem.  I have heard of the Judas snakes. It would seem to me tough for a law enforcement officer to distinguish between someone keeping a live snake to take home or someone trying to do the right thing such as saving their large snake to be equipped with a radio transmitter. If you want to keep a live python, you better call it in and report the coordinates.

 

Thanks for posting the map. Its not the same map I have. My map has a few snakes deep in the interior. I have personally witnessed and I have pictures of dead pythons at the Florida Trail entrance on the Loop Road. About a dozen pythons have been killed at Gum Slough, not on the map either. The map does show the airboaters pulling large snakes out of Stairsteps, Zone 4.

 

One of my favorite pics taken at a Stairsteps designated campsite of a snake killed in 2009. He was feeding on a wading bird when killed. The appearance of large snakes coincides with the disappearance of all mamalian species of wildlife in the area excuding panthers and bears. 

[Swamp Hunter]

I ran out of time typing my additional thoughts. I wanted to add that besides large bears and panthers, very large, smart and tough boar hogs also survived the onslaught. Large male hogs were observed for several years on the Loop Road but have now died off.  They couldnt find a mate to reproduce. Two large male boars were killed deep in the Stairsteps and brought to the Forty Mile Bend check station. The hunters didnt realize that they had killed the last of DeSotos wild surviving pigs in the BCNP.  So sad.

Deer hunting has been suspended indefinitely in the area.