2024 Everglades Python Roundup

[Martin Nowak]

2024 Everglades Roundup – AP News – August 17, 2024
“A hunter’s graveyard shift: grabbing pythons in the Everglades” (Stephany Matat)

I’ve never hunted snakes in the Everglades and am a novice understanding Burmese pythons having only produced about 400 in earlier times. Although a relative observation of mine, I wouldn’t call the eggs “small”. In terms of predators, there is ample literature that in the Everglades hatchling and young pythons are eaten by other snakes, herons, bass, alligators, birds of prey, and hogs.

Readers, any comments / observations on the below quotes from the story?

“when the dew point drops at midnight is the best time to find pythons” ?
“can smell the musk of a python in the Everglades” ?
“small eggs” ?
“known hatching spots” ?
“no natural predators” ?
“oily sheen of a python” ?

A hunter’s graveyard shift: grabbing pythons in the Everglades

In the dead of night, hunters go deep into the Florida Everglades, searching for the Burmese pythons. The grand prize winner, who humanely kills the most, receives $10,000.

apnews.com

 

[Socratic Monologue]

"Stephany Matat is an Associated Press general assignment reporter with a focus on politics and South Florida issues." So, not at all qualified to fact check a python story. At least the piece wasn't written by AI (I checked).

“can smell the musk of a python in the Everglades” ?

Incomplete quote. The complete quote is "he knows the swamp so well that he can smell a python’s distinct “musk” odor and can feel in his gut if the night is ripe." The passage is much more telling if the reader knows about the intuition, or mystical connection, or whatever 'feeling it in one's gut' entails. That latter part of the passage helps to understand that stuff is being made up for attention here.

“no natural predators”

Also an incomplete quote. "But Burmese pythons, constrictors that have no natural predators and can swallow animals whole". Can swallow animals whole? No shit, Stephany. That's the only way snakes eat (yeah, there's that snake that pulls the legs off crabs, OK). So, that passage taken as a whole is just a cheap scare tactic.

“oily sheen of a python”

I'm gonna give her that one. Snakes have a nice shine when they're in good condition. I wouldn't call it oily (that's just a derogatory spin on it -- 'dirty', 'greasy'), but I like the sheen of snakes.

 

[Martin Nowak]

John - you got me ! HA. Those are indeed incomplete quotes - I just focused on the bottom line intent.
I shall endeavor to be more accurate in the future. Thanks !

 

[Socratic Monologue]

Yeah, you gave us the jokes without the punchlines.

Here's one that's a little less humorous:

“when the dew point drops at midnight is the best time to find pythons”

(The complete quote is "It’s after midnight when the windshield fogs up on Thomas Aycock’s F-250 pickup truck. He flashes a low smile as he slowly maneuvers through the sawgrass, down dirt roads deep in the Florida Everglades. His windshield just confirmed it: When the dew point drops in the dead of the night, it’s prime time for pythons", which is going to turn out to be the same thing for what I'm going to point out.)

What the reporter is trying to convey is that supposedly when the dew forms at night, then the pythons come out (or are visible, or have their wild rumpus, or something like this). Put that way ("dew = pythons"), it sounds a little hokey -- just too simplistic.

But "dew point" is a technical term. Wikipedia explains it: "The dew point of a given body of air is the temperature to which it must be cooled to become saturated with water vapor. This temperature depends on the pressure and water content of the air. When the air is cooled below the dew point, its moisture capacity is reduced and airborne water vapor will condense to form liquid water known as dew." Put that way ("dew point = pythons") it sounds more sciencey.

But here's one problem: the dew point in Holey Land Wildlife Management Area doesn't drop at night. Here's the NOAA page for that location, and looking at either the history or forecast shows that dew points there are quite stable over one diurnal cycle, and lows don't correspond to time of day. (The dew point where I live tends to be highest early evening according to the NOAA data, possibly because the afternoon heat evaporates a bunch of water then.)

But the quote makes even less sense than that, since if the dew point drops there is less chance that dew will form (since the dew point will be farther below the temperature). What would have to happen is that the dew point would have to rise during the night (which it doesn't, unless it rains or clouds move in, which can happen any time of the day).

What is happening when dew forms on the windshield as night wears on is that the outside temperature drops below the dew point. But that's not very convincing ("when it gets colder, that's prime time for pythons"), possibly because it isn't true (I don't know whether it is true, but I doubt it is, and without some real observational data I wouldn't be likely to believe it).

One possibility is that the time of the night when dew forms is roughly the time of night when pythons are most likely to be out and about. The thing about the dew is just for effect, since presumably the guy has a clock on his phone that would give him the same information (and he could even set an alarm).

So this is just another example of how the article is trying to cast a certain spell by getting things convincing sounding without actually being true (probably the truth isn't very exciting).