Let's Kill Some Snakes!

The Florida Everglades are being overrun, er, over-slithered, with pythons. The environmental balance is out of whack because of one of the most feared and hard to control kinds of animals around-- the invasive species.

The Python Challenge 2013 is part of Florida's Python Removal Program and the first of its kind, an open-invite hunting extravaganza organized by Florida's own Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Essentially, it's a come one, come all invite to chase pythons in the Everglades and kill them. All you have to do is take an online training course.

Officials aren't really sure how many pythons are living in the Everglades. I saw estimates from 5,000 to more than 100,000. The only safe thing to say is that no one's really positive of how many there are, just that they are a nuisance.

Indeed. Pythons can grow up to 20 feet long and they cruise around eating wildlife in the Everglades like local birds, deer, and even alligators. The thing is, they aren't supposed to be here. They are a particular environmental scourge known as the invasive species. Thought to have originated when owners who had them as pets got sick of them, the pythons have bred and multiplied exponentially. Like any invasive species, the major issue is that they have no natural predators in the eco-system, so everything they do resonates even stronger through the food chain. An invasive species is like an infection-- it weakens the body it is in.

And so, Florida calls in the assassin, the hunter, the thrill-seeker. Python hunting season is open, though a successful day is catching one or two. Tough work, if you've got the skin for it.

Do you know anyone who has been a snake hunter or who happens to be going to Florida for this hunting call? If so, let me know about your story.

Image Source: Roberto Verzo via flickr