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One of Florida's most lethal python hunters

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Re: One of Florida's most lethal python hunters

#131

Post by ultimafan »

julianeon wrote: post #122
mminer237 wrote: post #41

This might be a bit gruesome, but why not shoot the snakes the on site? That seems way easier and faster than physically wrestling dangerous snakes sometimes bigger than yourself, throwing them in your truck, and shooting them in your garage. Is it just the solemnity? The chance of missing and it escaping and the difficulty of wrestling with a gun?

I imagine you'd end up with lots of leaded bullets in the water, over time. Naturally lead + water = bad. Note: I know about this because there's a gun range near where I live by the lake, and the lake is now permanently off limits for swimming due to lead pollution.

California law prevents hunting with lead bullets for this same reason. There's alternatives on the market for bullets made out of other non toxic or non polluting metals. I imagine they could do something similar there.

Re: One of Florida's most lethal python hunters

#135

Post by 0cf8612b2e1e »

turbonaut wrote: post #102
kkielhofner wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They get paid per verified kill: https://www.sfwmd.gov/our-work/python-program No idea how it actually works but shooting them where they are has to be tough to verify.

Particularly with snakes… https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perverse_incentive

Wikipedia says the snakes lay between 12-36 eggs, are capable of asexual reproduction when without a mate, and can reach over 2m in length within a year. Seems like a bunch of characteristics which would make farming them a straightforward affair. Less certain about the diet of feeding a clutch of snakes, but really seems like a business opportunity for the entrepreneur.

Re: One of Florida's most lethal python hunters

#136

Post by thaumasiotes »

throwup238 wrote: post #85
gweinberg wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think that can work. Reptiles don't have X and Y chromosomes.

Neither do Aedes aegypti mosquitos which was probably the first application of the gene drive. It works in species with homomorphic sex chromosomes just fine.

Reptiles commonly have their sex determined by the ambient temperature around their egg. Nobody cares whether a sex chromosome is named "X" or "Z".

Re: One of Florida's most lethal python hunters

#137

Post by eth0up »

TechDebtDevin wrote: post #112
nanolith wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Shooting invasive species is definitely legal in Florida assuming that you have permission of the land owner or are otherwise in a location where shooting is allowed (i.e. not in a municipality that bans the gunfire). It has to be done humanely: if you hit the invasive animal, you are responsible for dispatching it as quickly as possible. If you don't dispatch the animal, you can easily run foul of animal cruelty law…

I say we just give Florida back to Spain and call it a day.

What a ridiculous proposal. Give it back to the Timucans, and if you can't find any, which you won't, consider the Seminoles.

Billy Bowlegs for governor - I know he wouldn't turn the State Parks into golf courses!

Re: One of Florida's most lethal python hunters

#138

Post by shepherdjerred »

MikeKusold wrote: post #107
hinkley wrote: post #87

Should we be capturing the large ones, sterilizing them and rereleasing like we do for cats? I wonder how you tag a python as spayed though. No ears.

We shouldn't even be doing that for cats. Domestic cats are an invasive species that decimate the native wildlife. "free-ranging domestic cats kill 1.3–4.0 billion birds and 6.3–22.3 billion mammals annually."[0] Since we're talking about Florida, this is what their Fish & Game department has to say on the topic: > * Domestic cats are not a part of Florida’s natural ecosystem. A single individual free-ranging cat may…

...are you advocating for outdoor pet cats to be put to death by the state?

Re: One of Florida's most lethal python hunters

#140

Post by CuriousCosmic »

mminer237 wrote: post #41

This might be a bit gruesome, but why not shoot the snakes the on site? That seems way easier and faster than physically wrestling dangerous snakes sometimes bigger than yourself, throwing them in your truck, and shooting them in your garage. Is it just the solemnity? The chance of missing and it escaping and the difficulty of wrestling with a gun?

It's far less effective because you have to hit an extremely small target to actually kill a python. Far easier and more reliable to just get up close and personal with it and either bludgeon, impale, or decapitate it after you get it pinned down.
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