The South Florida Water Management District is really looking for a few dozen civic citizens to join its python elimination program. The program works exactly as you think: Authorized citizens, called python removal agents, are paid at the hour to track and humanly forward pythons and other invasive snake species that are dangerous to the environment. There are also bonuses: the program pays extra for snakes measuring over four feet or for those who have been sent to the hereafter while keeping their eggs.
The program was launched in 2017 to limit the population of non-native Burmese pythons in the region. Even though it is unfortunate that large ropes are being destroyed, we know that they are doing more harm than good in the area.
The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission of Florida describes the Burmese python, native to Asia, as "an invasive species that has a negative impact on native wildlife in and around the Everglades ecosystem in the south from Florida ".
If it helps to ease your consciousness, pythons are typically six to ten feet long and – this is a direct quote from Florida Fish and Wildlife – "are able to scale."
Since the beginning of the python elimination program, more than 2,500 pythons have been sent to the big world under his authorization. In fact, it has proven so effective that the SFWMD is asking to add $ 750,000 in program funding.
CNN has contacted the SFWMD by phone for further comment and is awaiting a response.
"We are going to ask 50 paid hunters," program director Mike Kirkland told Fort Myers News-Press. "This has been a resounding success, the most successful program in the history of the problem by far in terms of snake capture and profitability."
To be considered, you must be at least 18 years old, have all your credentials and documents in good standing, and have no recent criminal history. Withdrawal agents use a GPS tracking application to record time spent hunting and tracking creatures on public land. The South Florida Water Management District website contains more information about the program, including a very floridian response to a very floridian question:
Can guns be used to eliminate pythons?
Yes.
Please, universe, make it a reality show.
