By Florida Bill While Florida wildlife professionals are trying to out maneuver and remove the Burmese python from the magnificent Everglades, there has arisen a new impediment slowing down the ousting of these unwelcome critters--the Miccosukee Indians and their special traditions.
To the Miccosukees, which has a proud and noble history in Florida which even predates Columbus, the snake is considered to be a "sacred" animal which has contributed in positive ways to early Indian days in North America. Although the invasive python problem in the Everglades is fairly new, it is the generic snake, whatever its kind, which is deserving of respect by the tribe, so put your machetes away, and let the natives work on the problem.
With this tradition, and guided by a new Miccosukee chief, the tribe has formally ordered the state of Florida to halt ongoing research into Burmese pythons on the designated Indian reservations occupying about 130 square miles of the sunshine state, deep in the Everglades. The tribe has had ownership rights of the land since 1962 by decree of Florida authorities.
The Miccosukees see the negatives in the snake's hissing presence, gobbling up the wildlife beauty in the Everglades. So, while ordering an end to research and machete wielding by local snake haters, the tribe's wildlife unit will take charge of catching and disposing of these reptiles on the reservation, explained Gintas Zavadzkas, a Miccosukee ecological coordinator. Without too much elaboration, Zavadzkas said future work will be evaluated on a "case by-case" basis.
The tribe coordinator's announcement came as a surprise and a bit of a setback for Florida scientists. The decision means that an ongoing study tracking python habitats and movement by a prominent Geological Survey biologist on reservation land will cease, an official explained.
Coordinator Zavadzkas has expressed some frustration with state and federal efforts which he suggests have gummed things up for the tribe, impacting negatively on traditional Miccosukee way of life. State and local authorities could do more, he said, to discourage the flourishing of this invasive animal; for example, the state could require python owners to neuter pet snakes which could help control their spread.
In other matters, authorities have gotten in the way of traditional fishing and hunting by tribal members in a water conservation area on the reservation, the Miccosukee spokesman charged.
The unwelcome presence of the Burmese python in Florida first manifested itself in the 1980s. Their number continues to grow. The reptile can grow to 20-feet in length, maybe even longer. It is not poisonous, but ravenous in its hunger for the birds and rabbits and other special critters who have made their home in the grassy everglades which extends over 1.5 million acres in southern Florida. In recent months, the python has been found south of the Everglades in Key Largo.
In the past years, wildlife authorities of Florida have sponsored Python hunts as an added measure to reduce the population of the snakes. Hundreds of persons have participated in a "Python Challenge" and many male and female snakes have been destroyed; with cash awards given to the most successful hunters. Another hunt is planned for later in 2017. Florida officials hope for the best from the Miccosukees in finding and destroying the invaders, but vow that their scientific fight to preserve the health and pristine nature of the Glades will continue.
Speculation is that the snake's genesis came about by way of pet owners who became disenchanted with their exotic prize, maybe because they got too big or ate too much, and discarded them in the "the wild" --that being the Everglades. The Burmese population took hold, and now 35 years later, thanks to the serpentine version of the birds and the bees, there is a daunting overpopulation problem. Lady pythons lay hundreds of eggs at a time and too many survive other predators, and grow. Adult Burmese pythons here have no natural predators, experts tell us. Even alligators do not always fare well in one-on-one combat. The Miccosukees of Florida is a federally recognized Native American tribe in the USA, inside the state of Florida. Originally part of the Creek nation, the Indians migrated into Florida before it became part of the United States. The Tribe and its reservation was federally recognized in Florida in 1962.
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