* . *
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Thursday, June 26, 2025
Earth-News
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Susquehanna Raises Penn Entertainment Inc. (PENN) Price Target. – Yahoo Finance

    Susquehanna Raises Price Target for Penn Entertainment Inc. (PENN)

    George Lopez is coming to Spokane – KXLY.com

    George Lopez is coming to Spokane – KXLY.com

    Netflix unveils Dallas immersive venue for fans of hit shows like ‘Squid Game,’ ‘Stranger Things’ – Houston Chronicle

    Step Inside Netflix’s New Dallas Immersive Experience Featuring Hits Like ‘Squid Game’ and ‘Stranger Things

    ‘Puttin’ on the Ritz’: Civic Players bring ‘Young Frankenstein’ to life – Yahoo

    Civic Players Deliver a Hilarious and Unforgettable Performance of ‘Young Frankenstein

    ‘Wheel of Fortune’: Amputee Wins $60,000 After Breaking Incredible ‘Curse’ – Hastings Tribune

    Wheel of Fortune’ Amputee Breaks Incredible ‘Curse’ to Win $60,000!

    North Star Sports & Entertainment Network: Coming soon – KTTC News

    North Star Sports & Entertainment Network: Coming soon – KTTC News

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Wayve Expands Engineering Leadership to Power Next-Gen Autonomous Driving Technology – Silicon Canals

    Wayve Boosts Engineering Leadership to Accelerate Next-Gen Autonomous Driving Innovation

    Frontdoor Announces Tech Expert Dr. Bala Ganesh as Chief Technology Officer – Business Wire

    Frontdoor Appoints Tech Visionary Dr. Bala Ganesh as New Chief Technology Officer

    Defense technology giant Northrop Grumman to host interviews in Iuka to fill technician roles – supertalk.fm

    Defense technology giant Northrop Grumman to host interviews in Iuka to fill technician roles – supertalk.fm

    China’s Military Introduces Mosquito-Sized Drones: A Game-Changing Surveillance Technology – Indian Defence Review

    China Unveils Mosquito-Sized Drones: Revolutionizing Surveillance Technology

    Marvell Technology Stock Rallies After AI Event Sparks Investor Optimism – Yahoo Finance

    Marvell Technology Stock Rallies After AI Event Sparks Investor Optimism – Yahoo Finance

    Promising Technology Stocks To Follow Today – June 22nd – MarketBeat

    Top Technology Stocks to Watch Today – June 22nd

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Susquehanna Raises Penn Entertainment Inc. (PENN) Price Target. – Yahoo Finance

    Susquehanna Raises Price Target for Penn Entertainment Inc. (PENN)

    George Lopez is coming to Spokane – KXLY.com

    George Lopez is coming to Spokane – KXLY.com

    Netflix unveils Dallas immersive venue for fans of hit shows like ‘Squid Game,’ ‘Stranger Things’ – Houston Chronicle

    Step Inside Netflix’s New Dallas Immersive Experience Featuring Hits Like ‘Squid Game’ and ‘Stranger Things

    ‘Puttin’ on the Ritz’: Civic Players bring ‘Young Frankenstein’ to life – Yahoo

    Civic Players Deliver a Hilarious and Unforgettable Performance of ‘Young Frankenstein

    ‘Wheel of Fortune’: Amputee Wins $60,000 After Breaking Incredible ‘Curse’ – Hastings Tribune

    Wheel of Fortune’ Amputee Breaks Incredible ‘Curse’ to Win $60,000!

    North Star Sports & Entertainment Network: Coming soon – KTTC News

    North Star Sports & Entertainment Network: Coming soon – KTTC News

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Wayve Expands Engineering Leadership to Power Next-Gen Autonomous Driving Technology – Silicon Canals

    Wayve Boosts Engineering Leadership to Accelerate Next-Gen Autonomous Driving Innovation

    Frontdoor Announces Tech Expert Dr. Bala Ganesh as Chief Technology Officer – Business Wire

    Frontdoor Appoints Tech Visionary Dr. Bala Ganesh as New Chief Technology Officer

    Defense technology giant Northrop Grumman to host interviews in Iuka to fill technician roles – supertalk.fm

    Defense technology giant Northrop Grumman to host interviews in Iuka to fill technician roles – supertalk.fm

    China’s Military Introduces Mosquito-Sized Drones: A Game-Changing Surveillance Technology – Indian Defence Review

    China Unveils Mosquito-Sized Drones: Revolutionizing Surveillance Technology

    Marvell Technology Stock Rallies After AI Event Sparks Investor Optimism – Yahoo Finance

    Marvell Technology Stock Rallies After AI Event Sparks Investor Optimism – Yahoo Finance

    Promising Technology Stocks To Follow Today – June 22nd – MarketBeat

    Top Technology Stocks to Watch Today – June 22nd

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
Earth-News
No Result
View All Result
Home Science

Florida pays python hunters to clear the Everglades. Ten years later, is it working?

September 19, 2023
in Science
Florida pays python hunters to clear the Everglades. Ten years later, is it working?
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Burmese python

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Monsters slither throughout the crooked mangroves and serrated sawgrass of Florida’s Everglades, 20 feet long and up to 200 pounds of sinewy muscle built by devouring everything in their path.

In a state chock full of invasive birds, fish, lizards and bugs, the Burmese python reigns supreme.

Bite by bite, these invaders have reshaped the ecosystem they’ve slithered through for almost 30 years, thanks to irresponsible owners dumping their pets in the swamp when they got too big or cumbersome to care for. (That theory that they were released from a lab when Hurricane Andrew blew through in 1992? Busted.)

Scientists have found all kinds of mammals, birds and reptiles in their bellies—the nearly extinct marsh rabbit, wood storks, deer, even alligators.

It’s a five-alarm problem for a state currently spending billions on restoring the Everglades, “the largest environmental restoration in the history of the world,” as “Alligator” Ron Bergeron, a longtime python hunter, businessman and member of the South Florida Water Management District board, puts it.

“Can you imagine an Everglades with no wildlife?” he said. “You can’t have a healthy ecosystem without a healthy food chain.”

A decade ago, Florida came up with a unique way to tackle the problem. It sponsored a week-long hunt for the pythons, drawing in would-be reptile slayers from around the world hoping for a chance at the cash prize.

The original python challenge a decade ago netted a mere 68 pythons. This year, around a thousand registrants captured and killed 209 pythons.

On Friday, the state honored the winners of the 2023 competition, which lasted from August 4 to the 13th. The big winner was Paul Hobbs, who hunts with his father (2021’s top prize winner) Tom, his 12-year-old son Dominic and his brother-in-law Austin Park. The team slayed 20 snakes in one week and took home the top prize of $10,000.

“You just have to get out there and grind. It’s not easy,” Hobbs said. “There’s a lot of time where you’re out there catching nothing.”

Hobbs may speak for all scientists in Florida who’ve ever tried to pin down the snake. It seems like finding a reptile longer and heavier than a grown man would be an easy task in an environment largely filled with smaller critters, but it’s proven devilishly hard.

There is no good estimate for how many pythons, exactly, are out there. So it’s hard to say how much of a dent has been made in their population. The United States Geological Survey estimates “tens of thousands” of the beasts may be roaming South Florida, and they’re spreading. They’ve been spotted as far west as Naples, as far north as Lake Okeechobee and as far south of the northern Florida Keys.

“They’re an apex predator,” said McKayla Spencer, the nonnative fish and wildlife coordinator for Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. “Essentially when they become adults, there’s really nothing that preys on them.”

Except, she said, for humans. Alongside the state’s annual Python Challenge, Florida pays about a hundred contractors to try and kill the snakes year round, a program that began in 2017.

Spencer said just under 20,000 snakes have been removed since 2006, with 11,000 of those from paid contractors.

Without an exact population count to compare against, it’s hard to say if the effort is making any headway against the snake population, which can grow fast. Every female snake can lay around 100 eggs a year.

But earlier this year, a USGS study came to a conclusion many in the snake community have long seen coming: Burmese pythons are here to stay.

“Overall, eradication of pythons in southern Florida is likely impossible,” the report read.

Maybe in the future, the report said, some new technology will help find—and kill—the “cryptic and resilient” creatures. But for now, scientists say, the goal is simply to remove as many snakes as they can.

“We don’t currently have a way to eradicate them, but in the last few years, we’ve made some great strides,” Spencer said. “Every python removed is one less python to harm our native species.”

2023 Miami Herald. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Citation:
Florida pays python hunters to clear the Everglades. Ten years later, is it working? (2023, September 18)
retrieved 19 September 2023
from https://phys.org/news/2023-09-florida-pays-python-hunters-everglades.html

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : Phys.org – https://phys.org/news/2023-09-florida-pays-python-hunters-everglades.html

Tags: Floridapythonscience
Previous Post

Veterinarians developing frailty instrument to personalize canine geriatric care

Next Post

AWS ties up with ISRO and IN-SPACe to advance India’s space capabilities with cloud technologies

Wayve Expands Engineering Leadership to Power Next-Gen Autonomous Driving Technology – Silicon Canals

Wayve Boosts Engineering Leadership to Accelerate Next-Gen Autonomous Driving Innovation

June 26, 2025
Fantasy Football: Which teams are set to pass the most (and least) in 2025? – Yahoo Sports

Fantasy Football Preview: Which Teams Will Lead the League in Passing Attempts in 2025?

June 26, 2025
Tiny night lizards survived dinosaur-killing asteroid strike, despite being close enough to see it happen – Live Science

How Tiny Night Lizards Defied Extinction After the Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid Impact

June 26, 2025
Scientists Confirm Anti-Aging Drug Appears to Prolong Life in Animals – ScienceAlert

Scientists Confirm Anti-Aging Drug Appears to Prolong Life in Animals – ScienceAlert

June 26, 2025
Tokyo Lifestyle Makes Strategic Move into Australian Market with Premium Store in Sydney Chinatown – Stock Titan

Tokyo Lifestyle Makes Strategic Move into Australian Market with Premium Store in Sydney Chinatown – Stock Titan

June 26, 2025
First images from world’s largest digital camera reveal galaxies and cosmic collisions – NBC News

First images from world’s largest digital camera reveal galaxies and cosmic collisions – NBC News

June 26, 2025
Spirit Airlines Rebrands Travel Options: First, Premium Economy, Value – One Mile at a Time

Spirit Airlines Unveils Exciting New Travel Options: First, Premium Economy, and Value Classes

June 26, 2025
Susquehanna Raises Penn Entertainment Inc. (PENN) Price Target. – Yahoo Finance

Susquehanna Raises Price Target for Penn Entertainment Inc. (PENN)

June 26, 2025

Vanderburgh County Health Department Takes Bold Action Against Vaccine Hesitancy

June 26, 2025
Why Trump needs the world to believe Iran’s nuclear program is ‘obliterated’ – CNN

Why Trump Wants the World to Believe Iran’s Nuclear Program Is Completely Destroyed

June 26, 2025

Categories

Archives

June 2025
MTWTFSS
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
30 
« May    
Earth-News.info

The Earth News is an independent English-language daily published Website from all around the World News

Browse by Category

  • Business (20,132)
  • Ecology (698)
  • Economy (718)
  • Entertainment (21,613)
  • General (15,576)
  • Health (9,757)
  • Lifestyle (723)
  • News (22,149)
  • People (720)
  • Politics (725)
  • Science (15,936)
  • Sports (21,215)
  • Technology (15,703)
  • World (698)

Recent News

Wayve Expands Engineering Leadership to Power Next-Gen Autonomous Driving Technology – Silicon Canals

Wayve Boosts Engineering Leadership to Accelerate Next-Gen Autonomous Driving Innovation

June 26, 2025
Fantasy Football: Which teams are set to pass the most (and least) in 2025? – Yahoo Sports

Fantasy Football Preview: Which Teams Will Lead the League in Passing Attempts in 2025?

June 26, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

Go to mobile version