Florida will hold another "Python Challenge" next year to help raise awareness about the state's growing population of the invasive snake, The Miami Herald reports.
The hunt, which was last held in 2013, was announced today by wildlife officials. The previous challenge offered prizes up to $1,500 and drew hunters from 38 states and Canada, The Herald story said.
The monthlong 2013 hunt didn't significantly reduce the Burmese python population, but it was successful in raising the profile of problem, The Herald reported today. There were 68 snakes killed by 1,600 hunters, the story said.
No details of the new hunt were announced other than an early 2016 date. Cold winter weather typically brings out the cold-blooded reptiles, The Herald reported.
Burmese pythons, considered South Florida’s top predator, are bad news for a variety of animals large and small, from egrets to deer, the story said. They are blamed for the loss of many small mammals in the Everglades.
Most attempts to eliminate them have been unsuccessful, The Herald story said, adding that the biggest killer of the snakes has been the 2010 historic freeze.
It's probably not possible to do more than contain them, but raising awareness increases the odds, University of Florida wildlife biologist Frank Mazzotti told The Herald. The hunt "gives the public the opportunity to get involved in solving the problem or at least thinking they're solving the problem," he said.
But Mazzotti cautioned that only skilled hunters are usually successful. "There's an old saying that 10 percent of the fisherman catch 90 percent of the fish," he told The Herald. "The same is probably true of pythons."
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