Two Indian snake hunters have been hired by the Florida wildlife officials to get rid of the Burmese pythons, which are wiping out small mammal populations, driving nearly to extinction in a tropical wetland in the US state. Masi Sadaiyan and Vaidivel Gopal, both in their 50s, are from the Irula tribe of Tamil Nadu and are successful python hunters in India, were brought in, along with two translators, to work with detection dogs to track down and capture the giant snakes.
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They have surprised officals of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) by bagging as many as 13 pythons, including a 16-foot-long female, in just eight days.
“Since the Irula have been so successful in their homeland at removing pythons, we are hoping they can teach people in Florida some of these skills,” said Kristen Sommers, section leader of the FWC’s Wildlife Impact Management Section.
“We are working with our partners to improve our ability to find and capture pythons in the wild. These projects are two of several new efforts focused on the removal of these snakes,” Sommers said.
“In their first eight days on the job, the Irula tribesmen, world-renowned snake catchers from India has removed 13 pythons, including four on their first visit to Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge on North Key Largo in partnership with the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Traditionally, the main occupation of the Irula tribe has been catching snakes,” a media release said.
“We are very pleased with the effectiveness of the Irula tribesmen,” Sommers said in an email.
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Moscynsky of the Key Largo Chamber said that she is glad that the state is making an effort to eradicate the snakes. She knows how hard it is, she tried to kill one herself.
“I was coming home at night, and I saw something off in the distance crossing the road. It was a python,” she said. “I was thinking, what do I do? You want to kill it, or call somebody to kill it, or do something. I was driving a Honda Accord, which is a pretty heavy car, so I slowed down and ran over it. The snake took up two lanes. It was that long. I’m thinking, I must have killed it.
“When I turned my car around to go back to it and call the police about it, it was slithering its way across the road. I didn’t do a thing to it,” she continued. “I read later that you have to cut off their heads.”
By Premji
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