I’m currently in south Florida killing iguanas. AMA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does this even make a dent in their population?

I mean I admire the effort but I'm not convinced this is effective in controlling their population?

Also, does everyone try to sell the carcasses? I find that part a little gross. Like killing them is one thing, but collecting them and storing them for however long and turning them over sounds gross. I'd rather just kill them and discard them.

OP here

I try to shoot or harpoon every female I can. Because every female I can kill is 30-70 fewer eggs that get laid this winter (they’re just starting to nest/lay right now.

Killing females definitely impacts the numbers. Males, not so much at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any luck with the pythons? It's insane how quickly they've decimated wildlife in the Everglades and surrounding areas.

OP checking in!


Sorry for the lack of updates, had a long day hunting on Saturday, then early to bed and up at 3am in order to get over to the west side of the state on I-75 and out into the hunt area in Big Cypress by dawn today.

No. Pythons.

Bummer. A couple factors: wasn’t quite as cool last night as we were hoping, so the snakes probably weren’t as cold as we were hoping, and didn’t need to bask very long before they got moving for the day. The other reason - and this is the REAL bummer - is that Florida Fish and Wildlife now thinks the python population is falling off - from gradual starvation. The reason that’s a bummer is because that means they’ve already eaten most of the small animals in the southern part of the state. As proof of this, or at least my own anecdotal observation, we spent 6 hours walking through brush, cypress woods, pine hammocks and grassland today, and I didn’t see a SINGLE rabbit, squirrel, possum, raccoon, fox, beaver, muskrat, nutria or other small mammal, or any tracks at obvious places. Nothing. Not even many smaller birds to be seen or heard. Big wading birds, yes, but very few small birds. It was erie. In a place that should’ve been full of life, there was literally nothing larger than bugs or smaller than deer or wild hogs. There’s a whole lot of animals out there that aren’t there anymore. That’s what pythons have done to the western Everglades. And now they’re gradually starving out because there’s nothing left to eat. So nature finds a way to fix imbalances I guess. But it sure is costly, with lots of collateral damage and ripple effects. It was a real downer to be out there today and realize what is happening.


So, that was the update for today. Yesterday we hunted in the morning, killed about two dozen by lunch, then went to the beach. I harpooned one practically underneath the I-95 bridge by the Ft Lauderdale airport that was 68” long and 16 lbs! Biggest of the trip so far. Huge male, with bright orange skin with black banding. Paid a local kid at the marina $50 to skin it and do a tanning on it for me. I’ll figure out what to make from it later.

Back out tomorrow morning.

Very cool update thanks.

Maybe we could export squirrels from dmv to there?

I have been wondering about raccoons here though - they used to be all,over at night but have not seen them in few years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I figure I’m probably the only DCUM’r who’s ever come to Fort Lauderdale for the sole purpose of killing as many giant lizards as I can in a long weekend. That seems worthy of an AMA.

Some background:

Iguanas are an invasive species in Florida. The state encourages people to kill them wherever and whenever possible. They damage native vegetation, vegetable gardens, eat bird eggs and their burrows undermine sidewalks and canal walls causing erosion. Got here earlier today, just came back from our first hunt. Wife killed 9 and I killed 6 in 2 hours. Tomorrow we have a full day hunt, and then Sunday we go to Big Cypress to do a python hunt. Then more iguanas on Monday and Tuesday.


AMA!

No question just admiration. Too bad they can't kill the idiots who bring them into the counry and then set them free when they get too big.

OP here

They don’t import them anymore. You can’t even own one as a pet now in FL.

But it really is sorta pointless now. They’re established here, and self sustaining. The only things keeping them in check at this point is cold weather - so they don’t keep expanding northwards - and people hunting them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:IDK why anyone would do this. SMH.

OP here

Because it’s fun to boat around the canals with good friends of ours and spend the day killing little miniature dinosaurs. That’s why.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP should offer his services to the poster with the missing python in her building LOL.

OP here

I didn’t have any luck finding one in the wild today. No way I’d find one in a building. But it probably crawled into the toilet and went into the sewers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:IDK why anyone would do this. SMH.

Because they are conservationists trying to undo damage that came from irresponsible human behavior, is that acceptable to you, Judgy McJudgerton?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wish we could do the same with feral and outdoor cats. Horrible for native ecosystems.

OP here


I don’t think I could ever bring myself to shoot a cat. I have two cats.


But I get what you’re saying. Ferals are a HUGE problem. I can’t even fathom how many birds and small mammals they kill.


But I’m not the guy for that. I love shooting iguanas. Cats? Couldn’t do it. Sorry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's interesting that people aren't going nuts about this on this forum. I support you op. I also support people who trap and kill house sparrows. They are an aggressive species that kills off smaller nesting birds. People freak out about this. House sparrows will kill anything on the nest and take over all possible nests in an area. I tried for a month to stop a male from taking over a bluebird nest. Once they find a nest, nothing will stop them from killing whatever is in it.

Some did and posted idiotic political generalizations but they were deleted …

Cuz OP doesn’t feel anything when killing iguanas BUT he has the sadz when anonymous posters say something he doesn’t like.

🦎

OP here

Nope, that wasn’t me. I didn’t report anyone’s post or get my feelings hurt. I mean, it’s an anonymous board - why would I care? So no sadz to be had.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you kill them? Club them over the head with a rock?

Shoot them just behind the eye with a high power airgun, or harpoon them with a dart and then beat them to death with a small club. The darts are for places where it’s not safe enough to shoot an airgun.

I truly cannot imagine clubbing any other animal to death. Can you shoot it?

OP here


There are places where we just can’t use the air rifles due to safety concerns about misses or shoot-through’s. In those places you harpoon them with a small dart and then reel them in with a line attached to the dart.

When you pull them aboard the boat, they’re very much in a fighting mood. A big male scratched my leg up yesterday when I was moving in to put him down. It happens. Sometimes they get lucky. It’s a contact sport.


But shooting is preferable. A headshot will usually kill them instantly. Or at least render them unconscious/incapacitated instantly, as long as the air gun is sufficiently powerful.

An air gun like you’d see for sale at Dick’s or BassPro isn’t powerful enough. You need something more powerful than that. The ones we use fire a much larger pellet than the ones sold at big box retailers. Which is why we have to be very careful about the places where we shoot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Okay but how many did you get? I hope you killed a whole truck of pythons.

OP here

No pythons.


Read a few posts up for the (depressing ) python report.


You’ll see what I mean.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any luck with the pythons? It's insane how quickly they've decimated wildlife in the Everglades and surrounding areas.

OP checking in!


Sorry for the lack of updates, had a long day hunting on Saturday, then early to bed and up at 3am in order to get over to the west side of the state on I-75 and out into the hunt area in Big Cypress by dawn today.

No. Pythons.

Bummer. A couple factors: wasn’t quite as cool last night as we were hoping, so the snakes probably weren’t as cold as we were hoping, and didn’t need to bask very long before they got moving for the day. The other reason - and this is the REAL bummer - is that Florida Fish and Wildlife now thinks the python population is falling off - from gradual starvation. The reason that’s a bummer is because that means they’ve already eaten most of the small animals in the southern part of the state. As proof of this, or at least my own anecdotal observation, we spent 6 hours walking through brush, cypress woods, pine hammocks and grassland today, and I didn’t see a SINGLE rabbit, squirrel, possum, raccoon, fox, beaver, muskrat, nutria or other small mammal, or any tracks at obvious places. Nothing. Not even many smaller birds to be seen or heard. Big wading birds, yes, but very few small birds. It was erie. In a place that should’ve been full of life, there was literally nothing larger than bugs or smaller than deer or wild hogs. There’s a whole lot of animals out there that aren’t there anymore. That’s what pythons have done to the western Everglades. And now they’re gradually starving out because there’s nothing left to eat. So nature finds a way to fix imbalances I guess. But it sure is costly, with lots of collateral damage and ripple effects. It was a real downer to be out there today and realize what is happening.


So, that was the update for today. Yesterday we hunted in the morning, killed about two dozen by lunch, then went to the beach. I harpooned one practically underneath the I-95 bridge by the Ft Lauderdale airport that was 68” long and 16 lbs! Biggest of the trip so far. Huge male, with bright orange skin with black banding. Paid a local kid at the marina $50 to skin it and do a tanning on it for me. I’ll figure out what to make from it later.

Back out tomorrow morning.

Very cool update thanks.

Maybe we could export squirrels from dmv to there?

I have been wondering about raccoons here though - they used to be all,over at night but have not seen them in few years.

OP here

Did coyotes move into your neighborhood? They’re expanding their range rapidly. That would explain the raccoons not being around anymore.

I spend a LOT of time outdoors… and being down in the glades today and not seeing any or even any signs of, the animals one would expect to see out in the wild is jarring. It really made an impact on me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does this even make a dent in their population?

I mean I admire the effort but I'm not convinced this is effective in controlling their population?

Also, does everyone try to sell the carcasses? I find that part a little gross. Like killing them is one thing, but collecting them and storing them for however long and turning them over sounds gross. I'd rather just kill them and discard them.

OP here

I try to shoot or harpoon every female I can. Because every female I can kill is 30-70 fewer eggs that get laid this winter (they’re just starting to nest/lay right now.

Killing females definitely impacts the numbers. Males, not so much at all.

Couldn't you just tranqualize them and give them hysterectomies?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wish we could do the same with feral and outdoor cats. Horrible for native ecosystems.

OP here


I don’t think I could ever bring myself to shoot a cat. I have two cats.


But I get what you’re saying. Ferals are a HUGE problem. I can’t even fathom how many birds and small mammals they kill.


But I’m not the guy for that. I love shooting iguanas. Cats? Couldn’t do it. Sorry.

OP, as you surely already know, the feral cats help keep down the population of rats. They're very beneficial. What was one of the factors that led to the Black Death during Medieval Times? Superstitious attitudes towards cats led to the wholesale killing of strays. With no cats to control the rats, they multiplied rapidly. The rats spread the bubonic plague throughout Europe. It took a long time to make the connection between the plague, the rats, and the dearth of cats. Yeah, they kill birds, and that's a problem, but suspect cats make a convenient scapegoat for other reasons that bird populations are decreasing (such as unchecked development taking out their habitats).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does this even make a dent in their population?

I mean I admire the effort but I'm not convinced this is effective in controlling their population?

Also, does everyone try to sell the carcasses? I find that part a little gross. Like killing them is one thing, but collecting them and storing them for however long and turning them over sounds gross. I'd rather just kill them and discard them.

OP here

I try to shoot or harpoon every female I can. Because every female I can kill is 30-70 fewer eggs that get laid this winter (they’re just starting to nest/lay right now.

Killing females definitely impacts the numbers. Males, not so much at all.

Couldn't you just tranqualize them and give them hysterectomies?

OP here

Maybe a veterinary doctor with a specialty in herpetology could. But I couldn’t.

My specialty is putting a 48 grain .30 caliber air gun pellet through their brain pan.

I’m gonna stay in my lane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wish we could do the same with feral and outdoor cats. Horrible for native ecosystems.

OP here


I don’t think I could ever bring myself to shoot a cat. I have two cats.


But I get what you’re saying. Ferals are a HUGE problem. I can’t even fathom how many birds and small mammals they kill.


But I’m not the guy for that. I love shooting iguanas. Cats? Couldn’t do it. Sorry.

OP, as you surely already know, the feral cats help keep down the population of rats. They're very beneficial. What was one of the factors that led to the Black Death during Medieval Times? Superstitious attitudes towards cats led to the wholesale killing of strays. With no cats to control the rats, they multiplied rapidly. The rats spread the bubonic plague throughout Europe. It took a long time to make the connection between the plague, the rats, and the dearth of cats. Yeah, they kill birds, and that's a problem, but suspect cats make a convenient scapegoat for other reasons that bird populations are decreasing (such as unchecked development taking out their habitats).

OP here

Everything you said is fair. Including probably about the scapegoating, at least to a degree. But we both know cats kill birds too.

My cats have been inside cats their whole lives. I wish everyone’s were. And yet, we still have mice in the house.