The freak cold snaps that chilled normally temperate Florida last winter may have killed at least half of the state’s invasive python population, according to wildlife officials.
Now, South Florida is in the midst of its first-ever open hunting season on the constrictors to help eradicate even more of the slithering invaders.
While not a single python had been reported killed in the hunt as of early April, experts say this could be the last chance to get rid of the snakes before they do irreversible harm to the Everglades’ fragile ecological balance.
Sixty hunters have received special training to hunt down and kill the pythons in areas surrounding the Everglades National Park.
Aside from any bragging rights earned from such kills, the hunters will also be able to sell the skins for about $10 a foot.
A limited, test hunt last year resulted in only a handful of catches.
Florida’s pythons are mainly descendants of those that either escaped or were released into the wild by their owners. Some were flung from their cages by Hurricane Andrew’s devastating winds in August 1992,