Tell the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commision to STOP slaughtering pythons !

     Many people are aware of non-native pythons in the Florida everglades. Many people may also know that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has encouraged and trained amateur hunters to participate in the python challenge, a month long killing competition which took place in 2013 and 2016. This program rewards the hunting team who kills the most pythons, or the longest python with a cash reward of up to $5,000 dollars or more. Even now, eradication programs continue to pay hunters $8.10 an hour until the district's $125,000 dollar budget runs out! Clearly, there is more to the python challenge and other current python hunting programs than meets the eye. These eradication programs are telling the public that the species doesn't matter and that killing animals is okay if they are a nuisance. For this petition, I will be covering three main points that will hopefully expose the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and convince the public that pythons DO matter and should not be killed.

     First of all, the FWC is uses excuses to justify the slaughter of pythons despite the fact that Burmese pythons are a vulnerable species in their native state of Asia. Their main excuse for killing pythons is that they are trying to protect native wildlife, however, the FWC continues to sell hunting licenses for just about every native species from bobcats to alligators! The proof can be found on their own website under hunting! I even found a photo on the same website which shows a wall covered in furs from small animals. If the FWC was so concerned about native wildlife why is hunting still allowed at all, much less year round for animals such as raccoons and coyotes. This being said, I have a heightening suspicion that this is not an issue of protecting native wildlife, rather, this is an issue of ridding the everglades of anything that might interfere with people hunting native wildlife. I communicated with the FWC in the past and presented three possible alternative solutions, however, the women who responded simply gave me excuses as to why my solutions are not "feasible". She said the snakes could not be relocated because they carry parasites which would spread to animals in Asia. After doing some research though, I found no mention of the pythons carrying parasites at the time. Only just now did the FWC discover Pentastomida (tongue worms) in pythons, which are being spread to reptiles in Florida, however, these parasites are already present in East Asia. In order to shut down the idea of keeping the snakes in captivity, she stated that the snakes are too aggressive to work with, even though zoos and sanctuaries are specifically made to house wild animals. Not only do these people use excuses to encourage the public to kill pythons, but they have also turned it into some deranged festival/fun competition to specifically attract hunters who will jump at the chance to kill anything, especially when given a motive and cash reward.               

     The second piece of evidence is the obvious exaggerations and lies being told about Burmese and African rock pythons. I have heard and read so much false information from the FWC, and many people don't even realize they are being lied to! Kenneth Krysko, a senior herpetologist at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville was talking about African rock pythons in an article titled "Python Nightmare". African rock pythons are the new species working its way into the Florida everglades. Krysko described African rock pythons as being "So mean they come out of the egg striking," he even used the word "vicious" in his description. The definition of vicious is to be deliberately cruel or violent. Rock pythons may be defensive, but they are far from vicious, in fact, the only ones worthy of the title "vicious" are the people who go around slaughtering them! The FWC uses words such as morading, dangerous, and anything else they can pull from their little magic hat of lies. I also found another article titled "Hybrid man-eating pythons? Florida is on alert."! In this article, it is claimed that two nonnative python breeds currently slithering free in south Florida could morph into a giant man-eating swamp coil due to hybrid vigor. Sure the two species could breed, however, this does NOT mean the resulting snakes would be man-eaters, or more resilient than any other python. To me the idea of a "hybrid super snake" sounds completely absurd and unscientific! Not only does the FWC say things that cannot be proven, they also use emotion to convince anyone who might read their articles, or watch their videos by saying things like, "The crown jewel of our national park system has been transformed into a hunting ground for these predators, it's just a matter of time before one of these snakes gets to a visitor." (Bill Nelson) By by saying this, they have successfully caused the whole country to feel sorry for Florida, yet conveniently enough for them, no one feels sorry for the snakes being shot and decapitated. These exaggerations are used to cause even more people to hate these snakes and justify the senseless murder that goes on during these eradication programs.  

     Lastly, inhumane killing has not stopped! The FWC was warned by animal rights activists that when you decapitate a snake, the head remains alive and in agony for hours, yet I still find photos of decapitated pythons killed in Florida, including a 14 foot African rock python.  I 'm not surprised in the least that this is still happening since one of the commissioners of the FWC, Ron Bergeron, apparently responded to their warning by saying "The best way to kill a snake is whatever works." Clearly he doesn't care how pythons are being killed as long as they all die! Even though decapitation has likely slowed down quite a bit, a shot to the back of the head does not seem any more humane, and if you read "Five days in the Glades with Florida's wild python hunters" you will find what happens when you shoot these snakes. This is the description: "The snake turns around and lunges as she fires, and it falls backward, its body blown apart a foot below its head. The wound looks like an open mouth smeared with lipstick. The python tenses and thrashes, gravely wounded, spasming. The seconds slow as Jeanette watches. The snake won't lie still long enough to shoot a second time." According to the FWC, this killing method results in instant destruction of the brain, but that was obviously a lie. The end of another article describes a women who purposely ran over a Burmese python with her Honda Accord! Not only did she run it over, but she claimed the car "did nothing" to the snake because she didn't cut its head off! Even if the snake was still alive after being ran over, it would have suffered and died. People are always fighting for animals rights and speaking out against abuse, but if the victim is a non native python, no one cares. I say everyone with a heart should care! God didn't give us animals so we can slaughter them, they are meant to be cared about and treated kindly, not shot, not ran over, not bashed with wooden bats, not beheaded, not poisoned, and certainly not treated the way Burmese pythons have been treated since they first escaped that reptile breeding facility in 1992.

     These snakes have every right to live just like any other living creature. They may not be native, but that doesn't mean they should all die. They are not trying to hurt the everglades or the people who live there, they are simply surviving just like anything else! If threatened, a python WILL defend itself, but defence is NOT aggression and should not be called aggression. Some alternative solutions could be relocating pythons to their native state of Asia where they are needed for keeping rodents in check, rebuilding the reptile facility the snakes escaped from in the first place and keep them there, and sending the snakes to reptile zoos and other places where they can live in captivity for educational purposes. All of these things ARE possibilities, but the question should be whether or not the FWC will cooperate with these non-lethal alternatives. I believe that if we encourage this change it will prove to benefit people, pythons, and native wildlife! Please join my fight to stop the slaughter of pythons in Florida and be the difference for these wonderful animals.                                         

" ALL creatures are deserving of a life free from fear and pain"

-Maura Cummings