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One of Florida's most lethal python hunters

gardenandgun.com

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Re: One of Florida's most lethal python hunters

#81

Post by MrBuddyCasino »

atourgates wrote: post #37
MrBuddyCasino wrote: post #2

I wonder why they're not using thermal cameras. Snakes are ectothermic, but they still show up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOL0RocIUI0

I was thinking about technological solutions. Maybe some combination of cameras (thermal, traditional, maybe even Lidar) combining data and processing it to detect at least likely pythons. It wouldn't have to be perfect, but I imagine such a solution could be more effective than even the most experienced and talented human python spotter.

Yes a thermal cam on a drone plus maybe a bit of AI could save a lot of time.

Re: One of Florida's most lethal python hunters

#82

Post by NikkiA »

potato3732842 wrote: post #60
culi wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have to be licensed/hired for it

That means there's a licensing department somewhere that wouldn't have jobs if the pythons went away completely.

It's usually a part of the local (town, county, state) wildlife management department, who are usually overworked as it is; and would welcome one job less to do - they'd probably love to go back to just being 'the dog catcher' like 100 years ago.

Re: One of Florida's most lethal python hunters

#84

Post by munificent »

spankalee wrote: post #74

What's the point? The pythons are there now, and there's no way to capture them all.

From the article:

So far, the data suggests that native wildlife is responding in the areas the contractors patrol; though they might not be surging back, mammals and birds are finding the toehold they need to survive. While no one believes the pythons will ever be fully eradicated, Kirkland is hopeful that in twenty years, native wildlife might have regained more than a toehold, and the issue might lessen into something close to manageable.

Re: One of Florida's most lethal python hunters

#85

Post by throwup238 »

gweinberg wrote: post #79
chasil wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think a gene drive will be cheaper than all of this manual labor. Release a male python that can only sire male pythons, and population collapse is inevitable. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6083257/

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.

Re: One of Florida's most lethal python hunters

#86

Post by HarryHirsch »

dmonitor wrote: post #19

So when can we start writing articles glazing the US's most lethal cat hunters? They're an invasive species in most states and kill billions of native birds every year.

The thing with cats is that people think they have a cat problem when in fact they have a rodent problem that the cats keep in check.

Then they go, eradicate the cats, and wonder where the rats and mice come from. It's called the "mesopredator problem" in ecology, and it's a massive issue when you want to restore ocean islands for birds.

Re: One of Florida's most lethal python hunters

#88

Post by hinkley »

bbor wrote: post #14

Great article! That said, the Everglades and its web of life as we know it have existed for five thousand years. In the comparative blink of an eye, that intricate system has been upended. ...that doesn't sound so bad, when you put it like that. This is part of a bigger philosophical stance of mine: maybe the best course of action isn't "preserve nature exactly as we found it forever"? I definitely see the utility in…

Dave Attel’s Insomniac goes to New Orleans. Surprisingly they don’t go with the nightlife, but he hangs out with a SWAT team sniper who practices by sitting in a pickup bed sniping nutria in the canals. Probably doesn’t work as well in the Everglades though.

Re: One of Florida's most lethal python hunters

#90

Post by potato3732842 »

NikkiA wrote: post #82
potato3732842 wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That means there's a licensing department somewhere that wouldn't have jobs if the pythons went away completely.

It's usually a part of the local (town, county, state) wildlife management department, who are usually overworked as it is; and would welcome one job less to do - they'd probably love to go back to just being 'the dog catcher' like 100 years ago.

One would hope but you're still relying on the 1-N layers of management above that person to not try and hold onto the irrelevant workload for fiefdom size reasons. Also depends a lot on if the rule writing organization is the one actually paying to enforce it.
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