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Related: Culture Forums, Support Forums'It was going for my throat': Florida python hunters wrestle invasive snakes
OCHOPEE, Fla. (Reuters) - Thomas Aycocks life flashed before his eyes one night in the Everglades as a 13-foot Burmese python squeezed his arm and a leg in its coils. Aycock, who was trying to bag the snake by himself, still recalls feeling its tail across his back.
I knew what it was doing, it was going for my throat, said the 54-year-old Florida Army National Guard major who was able to wrestle free during that incident in the summer of 2018. I said to myself, It cant go down like this.
That scare has not stopped him from returning again and again to the sprawling wetland, devoting almost every spare moment to searching the thick brush and sawgrass for more snakes, as he was doing during this interview.
The state encourages hunters to capture or kill the giant, invasive south Asian snakes that are decimating local wildlife. Dozens of hunters are prowling the Everglades during Floridas 10-day Python Bowl, which ends Monday. Armed with long metal hooks that resemble fireplace pokers and bags, many hunters catch the snakes and take them in live.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-florida-python-hunt/it-was-going-for-my-throat-florida-python-hunters-wrestle-invasive-snakes-idUSKBN1ZG16F?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews
TheCowsCameHome
(40,169 posts)and that's close enough for me.
No. Thanks.
Farmer-Rick
(10,216 posts)2naSalit
(86,843 posts)dameatball
(7,400 posts)Apparently, initial releases are more limited geographically due to climate. However, each successive generation of these reptiles will become more tolerant of temperature changes and be able to spread farther north. I saw one claim that eventually even the coastal states up to DC could be affected. Seems unlikely, but what do I know? Lots of info out there on these invasive species and what may happen.