• Florida python hunt draws hundreds

    Joe Skipper / Reuters

    U.S. Senator Bill Nelson, left, walks with Florida Wildlife Commissioner Ron Bergeron as they take part in a hunt for pythons during a state-sponsored snake hunt in the Everglades, Fla. on Jan. 17. Python Challenge 2013 is a month-long event sponsored by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission offering prizes of $1,500 for the most pythons captured and $1,000 for the longest python.

    By Barbara Liston, Reuters

    A python hunting competition starting on Saturday is drawing hundreds of amateurs armed with clubs, machetes and guns to the Florida Everglades, where captured Burmese pythons have exceeded the length of minivans and weighed as much as grown men.

    "I just thought it was as exciting as could be. It's a once- in-a-lifetime opportunity," said contestant Ron Polster, a retired salesman from Ohio whose closest encounter with the swamp has been from the highway heading south for the winter.

    The stated goal of the competition is to raise awareness of the threat Burmese pythons pose to the Everglades ecosystem. The snakes are native to Southeast Asia and have no known predators in Florida. Full story

     

    Joe Skipper / Reuters

    A previously captured 13-foot Burmese python is held by Capt. Shawn Meiman for the press to view before U.S. Senator Bill Nelson took part in the state-sponsored snake hunt.

    Joe Skipper / Reuters

    An airboat with U.S. Senator Bill Nelson aboard skims across sawgrass during a hunt for Burmese pythons during the state-sponsored snake hunt, in the Everglades, Fla. on Jan. 17.

    Joe Skipper / Reuters

    A previously captured 13-foot Burmese python is held for the press to view on Jan. 17.

     

  • Python hunter searches Florida Everglades for snake invaders

    Erik S. Lesser / EPA

    Python hunter Edward Mercer searches through the Southern Glades area of the Everglades outside Florida City, Florida. Pictures taken March 24 and 25, 2012 and made available today.

    Erik S. Lesser / EPA

    Mercer searches through the vast Southern Glades.

    European Pressphoto Agency reports — Meet 39-year-old Edward Mercer, one of a handful of permitted python hunters in South Florida.

    Since the 1990s, non-native Burmese pythons, one of the world's largest species of snake, have been flourishing in the Everglades National Park and surrounding areas. Pet owners have been known to release the snakes into the wild, where they quickly revert to their natural state.

    Crocodiles thrive as neighbors of Florida nuclear plant

    Burmese pythons are voracious feeders and prey on the native wildlife of the Everglades, including American alligators, raccoons, rabbits, bobcats and many different birds. The National Park Service is concerned about the impact of the pythons on the delicate ecosystem of the area.

    Mercer doesn't get paid for hunting the snakes, but says he enjoys the rush of finding and capturing the elusive, semi-aquatic pythons. To date, he has caught 26 Burmese pythons, the largest of which was 12 feet long and weighed in at 43 pounds.  When he finds one, he turns it over to the state or federal wildlife authorities, depending on where it was found.

    According to the Park Service, more than 1,800 Burmese pythons have been removed from the Everglades since 2002.

    Erik S. Lesser / EPA

    Mercer sets up an automated camera for homeowner Marty Ward in West Palm Beach. He searches for pythons in residential areas when contacted by concerned homeowners.

    Erik S. Lesser / EPA

    Mercer handles one of his pet Burmese pythons at his home in Tamarac. He owns seven snakes, including two pythons. Mercer was afraid of snakes until someone gave him one.

     

  • Searching for snakes in Florida during Invasive Species Week

    Here are some other stories related to Invasive Species Week: one about oceans and one about fire ants. 

    Joe Raedle / Getty Images

    A non-native Python snake is shown to the media as an example of snakes that are invading the Florida Everglades on March 1, 2011 in Miami, Florida. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and its partners in the Everglades Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area (ECISMA) are conducting a survey of Northern African pythons (also called African rock pythons) in western Miami-Dade County. The teams of snake hunters were checking the levees, canals and marsh on foot for the invasive species of reptile. Many of the non-native snakes have been introduced in to the wild when people release pet snakes after they grow to large to keep.

    Joe Raedle / Getty Images

    Dawn Brumley, a wild life biologist from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, hunts for Northern African rock pythons and other non-native snakes in the Florida Everglades on March 1, 2011 in Miami, Florida. Commission employees and its partners in the Everglades Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area are conducting a survey of Northern African pythons (also called African rock pythons) in western Miami-Dade County. The teams of snake hunters were checking the levees, canals and marsh on foot for the invasive species of reptile. Many of the non-native snakes have been introduced in to the wild when people release pet snakes after they grow to large to keep. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

    Joe Raedle / Getty Images

    Hunters prepare to fan out to look for Northern African rock pythons and other non-native snakes in the Florida Everglades on March 1, 2011 in Miami, Florida. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and its partners in the Everglades Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area (ECISMA) are conducting a survey of Northern African pythons (also called African rock pythons) in western Miami-Dade County. The teams of snake hunters were checking the levees, canals and marsh on foot for the invasive species of reptile.

    By John Brecher