A deadly Everglades invader will face off against 800 armed men and women beginning on Sat., Jan. 12, 2013 when Florida's so-called "Python Challenge" kicked off. The month-long event will end on Feb. 10, 2013. In the interim, participants of the challenge are encouraged to trek through the Florida Everglades killing whatever Burmese pythons they find. At the end of the 30-day challenge, prizes will be awarded to the hunters who bag the greatest number and the largest of these non-indigenous snakes.
According to Yahoo! News, executive director of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Nick Wiley doesn't believe there is any danger in sending 800 mostly untrained hunters into the wilderness to collect enormous snakes. "We feel like anybody can get out in the Everglades and figure out how to try and find these things," he said. "It's very safe, getting out in the Everglades. People do it all the time." Preferred methods of killing the deadly Everglades invader pythons are a bullet to the brain or decapitation.
The "Python Challenge" didn't begin a minute too soon. Just last month, an unsuspecting family that was enjoying a picnic in the Florida Everglades was surprised by an unwelcome guest when a massive 17-foot snake joined their party. The reptile was shot to death by park rangers who responded to the scene. The snake was identified as a Burmese python.
The Burmese python is a subspecies of the Indian python, which is indigenous to Southern- and Southeast Asia. It is an invasive species in the Everglades, where this python at a Florida picnic was recently shot and killed. These snakes have thrived in the Everglades, where they grow large enough to feed on fully grown deer and alligators. The deadly Everglades invader python at the Florida picnic in December 2012 was large enough to kill a child or even an adult.
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