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That’s a margin that only sounds good compared to your odds of winning the next Powerball jackpot. That’s 68 out of an estimated 10,000 to 100,000 pythons slithering through the vast expanse of the River of Grass. That first year, the hunters bagged 68 snakes, their zeal flagging amid numerous cases of heat stroke and dehydration. The hoopla made it seem like a real-life version of “Whacking Day” on “The Simpsons,” when all of Springfield turns out to clobber as many snakes as possible until Barry White intervenes.
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The event drew more than 1,500 amateur hunters eager for instant fame, plus enough newsfolk to staff a half-dozen O.J. It’s been nearly 10 years since the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission held its first python round-up in 2013. “I did know that even back then, finding invasive species like this and many others were going to lead to problems. “I would have never suspected what happened in 1979 would end with python rodeos and such,” said Massey, now in his 70s. Nor could he know that, someday, the state would sponsor an annual python round-up. When he picked it up, he had no idea that this would be the first of thousands of pythons to invade the Glades, wrecking the ecosystem.
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Massey still has the snake’s skin and sent me a few photos of it. As a result, he said, “we didn’t go out again.”
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He remembers that road-killed reptile for one very good reason.ĭespite strong objections from the young lady he’d taken out that night, Massey told me, he insisted on dragging the 11-foot-9 carcass back to his vehicle to haul back home. Retired park ranger Jim Massey still vividly recalls spotting that first snake on the Tamiami Trail. Imagine, then, how delighted I was to talk to the guy who found the very first Burmese python in the Everglades way back in 1979. Or how Batman is just a rich orphan with anger issues who never got past his goth phase. You know, like how an illegal alien using a phony name became Superman. As a result, I have discovered a fondness for what the comic book people call “origin stories.” My kids frequently drag me to the theaters to see the latest superhero movie.