Florida Launches Reptile Hunting Season

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is offering a “special chance” for hunters to capture and remove “reptiles of concern” from the Everglades. From March 8 to April 17, residents with a hunting license and a $26 permit may bag as many Indian pythons, reticulated pythons, northern or southern African rock pythons, amethystine or scrub pythons, green anacondas and Nile monitor lizards as they can kill. The permit applies to any firearm save a centerfire rifle, as long as it’s deployed in the Everglades and Francis S. Taylor, Holey Land and Rotenberger wildlife management areas. “We are once again engaging our stakeholders, in this case, the hunting community, to help us reduce the number of reptiles of concern in the Everglades,” FWC Chairman Rodney Barreto asserted (ignoring the potential contribution of Sunshine State snake handlers). On this very day, the FWC gave hunters training on how to identify, stalk, capture and remove reptiles of concern. Did I say safety? I meant to say safely.