Snakes

Everglades Python Hunt: Can We Officially Call This One Giant Publicity Stunt? We Can

For the heat and hyperbole, who knew it was going to be this bad? But it is. The Great Python Hunt of 2013 may have been the greatest publicity stunt in the history of the Everglades. When the Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission sent us its first python news release months ago, we wrote an intro ... More >>

Florida Python Challenge: Two Weeks In, an Updated Body Count

We're pretty much at the middle mark for the first-ever Florida Python Challenge, the dubious public service free-for-all the state cooked up to control the dangerous number of Burmese pythons slithering around the state. The challenge started January 12, when some 800 hunters went head-first into t ... More >>

Bill Nelson Is In on the Python Hunt, Has Caught Zero Pythons So Far

With the Great Python Purge Challenge Hunt Thing 2013 well under way, it seems all kinds of folks are joining in to try to win themselves some cash for killing a python. One of those folks is apparently Sen. Bill Nelson himself. And, like pretty much everyone else involved in the hunt, he's ending ... More >>

2013 Python Challenge: Few Reptiles, Many TV Crews

Python Challenge: FWC Announces First Kills in 2013 Contest

For the few hundred hunters who showed up Saturday for day one of the 2013 Python Challenge, it was a day of high excitement and little payoff, at least according to the numbers beamed out of the Glades on Saturday night. The kickoff party -- and really the good-time atmosphere fits the description ... More >>

PETA Demands that Great Burmese Python Challenge Not Allow the Decapitating of Snakes

More than 400 people have decided to step up and take on Florida's 2013 Python Challenge, where they'll be competing for $1,000 to snuff out evasive Burmese pythons in the Everglades this weekend. No hunting license, or snake-killing experience is required. Only your dedication to hitting the swamp ... More >>

The Great Burmese Python Challenge Is Set To Begin! We Took The Online Training Course So You Don't Have To

Catching a Burmese Python can be tricky. And then killing it is no simple matter. There are rules. Many, many rules. To kill the mighty Burmese Python, the untrained and knife-wielding explorer must be vigilant, brave, and apparently blood-thirsty. And -- most importantly -- must take a 15-minute ... More >>

Mayan Calendar Predictions Versus Reality

The Great Burmese Python Challenge: How Many Can You Kill?

One month from now, something very unusual -- and very, very Florida -- will occur in the Everglades, representing a metaphoric clash of man and beast: the Burmese python challenge. Its requests are simple. Kill as many snakes as you can. No, no, no. Don't worry. You don't need a hunting license o ... More >>

Edward Archbold Dies After Eating Dozens of Roaches and Worms in Deerfield Reptile Shop

If you're a queasy reader who's going to be turned off by a gut vomiting up a crap ton of bugs and then dying, turn away now.Broward Sheriff's Office is investigating the death of Edward Archbold, a 32-year-old West Palm Beach resident who died after "he had consumed dozens of ro ... More >>

Dan Rather Jumps Into The Everglades' Burmese Python Problem (VIDEO)

See also "Feds Likely To Face Legal Battle Over Python Ban" and "JAVMA Probes Whether Burmese Pythons Are Mere Hype or Destructive Force"Want to see a guy get bit by a relatively huge and very pissed off Burmese python? Then keep reading because esteemed broadcast journalist Dan Rather has you ... More >>

Largest Burmese Python Found In Everglades Measures 17 Feet, Has 87 Eggs Inside

See also "Feds Likely To Face Face Legal Battle Over Burmese Python Ban" and "Are Burmese Pythons Slithering, Destructive Force?"The University of Florida announced a startling discovery Monday: A 17-foot-7-inch Burmese python had been pulled from the Everglades. The record-setting reptile weighed 1 ... More >>

Feds Likely To Face Legal Battle Over Burmese Python Ban

Most of us rejoiced earlier this year when Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar announced a new set of restrictions on the much loathed, much feared, much hyped Burmese python.  But six months after the feds announced a ban on the importation and interstate sale of Burmese pythons and th ... More >>

Burmese Python Eats 10 Bird Eggs, Vomits. Scientists Worried

An 8-foot-long Burmese python captured in Miami-Dade last year either watched Cool Hand Luke far too many times or was just very stupid and very hungry.According to a new study, the snake puked up ten intact bird eggs soon after the Miami-Dade Venom Response Program captured it. Meanwhile, the ... More >>

Forest Ranger Beats Huge Python to Death With Rake, Posts YouTube Video, Retires for Unrelated Reasons

​Most people eat cake and slack off on their last day of work. Not Jean Bernard Tarrete. The former forest ranger wrapped up his career with the Florida Forest Service at the end of March by hunting down a 15-foot Burmese python, wrestling with the beast while a coworker beat it to death with ... More >>

JAVMA Probes Whether Burmese Pythons Are Mere Hype or Slithering Destructive Force

​Despite the string of national headlines, television specials, a federal ban, and grotesque photographs, it's becoming increasingly unclear whether Burmese pythons are permanently wrecking the Everglades or if they're just an overhyped nuisance. Earlier this year, scientists r ... More >>

The Everglades Need to Go Viral: Five Ads the Park Should Look to for Inspiration (Videos)

​The Everglades has a marketing problem. Earlier this week, officials from the Everglades National Park and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization got together for a chat about how to better market the park to lure in tourists. As the Miami Herald reports, during ... More >>

Expanding Snake Ban Could Cause Economic Woe, Feed Python Hype, Reptile Group Says

​Earlier this year, our cowboy-hat-wearing secretary of the interior, Ken Salazar, hosted a news conference in the Everglades to announce a federal ban on importing four species of snakes, including the much-loathed Burmese python. Now, a new proposal from Reps. Tom Rooney and Ted Deutch ... More >>

Python Destruction of Everglades May Be Overhyped

​At the end of January, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published a study suggesting that Burmese pythons were decimating mammal populations in the Everglades. The numbers were shocking: a 99 percent decline in raccoon sightings, a 98 percent drop in opossum  ... More >>

Hungry Hungry Pythons Decimate Mammal Populations in Everglades

​It's no secret that Burmese pythons have been wreaking havoc in the Everglades, but the extent of their destruction has been hard to grasp. A new study provides some of the first hard statistics on how these invasive reptiles are altering the food chain, and the numbers are downright scary.Betwee ... More >>

Monster Pythons From the Everglades Get Dissected on PBS Show (Video)

​Nature shows are simply brilliant television. Sharks devouring seals in midair, a Golden Eagle dragging a helpless mountain goat to a savage death, and monkeys getting wasted off fermented fruit -- these are things dreams are made of.  Now South Floridians can puff out their chest with local ... More >>

Burmese Pythons Can Survive in Saltwater. Damn.

​As if snakes large enough to swallow -- or at least try to swallow -- alligators in the Everglades aren't frightening enough, U.S. Geological Survey researchers delivered a bit of unsettling news this week about Burmese pythons. These massive beasts can't be held back by saltwater. The resea ... More >>

Top Chef: Mutherf**king Snakes on Some Mutherf**king Plates

Snakes on a mutherf**king plate. Tonight on Top Chef.​Can we love Padma Lakshmi more than we do today? It seems mutherf**king unlikely. We just got wind of the totally awesome preview for tonight's episode of Top Chef. With the cheftestants finally chosen after two throwaway episodes, the fun beg ... More >>

Florida Has World's Worst Invasive Amphibian and Reptile Problem, According to UF Research

University of FloridaThis iguana doesn't belong in Florida, but here it is at someone's front door in Lake Worth.​If you're looking for a reptile or amphibian species that "causes or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health," chances are, it's in Florida.According ... More >>

Maggot Burgers, Raccoon on a Stick Are Big Hits at State Fairs

Jungle George's Exotic Meats and BugsAnd we thought maggots on your burger was a bad sign...​Remember when fried Oreos and pork parfait were the most outrageous food items at the fair? In an effort to outdo fried butter, fried bubblegum, and Krispy Kreme burgers, Jungle George's Exotic Meats and B ... More >>

Food Network's Extreme Chef: Like Top Chef With Snakes (Video)

Food Network Extreme Chef: Like Top Chef, but with poisonous snakes!​Although we love Top Chef here at Clean Plate Charlie, sometimes we can't help wondering if maybe the show would be a little bit better if the cheftestants had to, say, catch their own poisonous water moccasin and cook it ... More >>

7-Foot Burmese Python Escapes in West Palm Beach

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation CommissionThe 7-foot snake that was slithering around West Palm Beach​The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission isn't too happy with David T. Beckett after they say his 7-foot Burmese python escaped its enclosure and began wandering around res ... More >>

Burmese Pythons Not Going Anywhere

Courtesy, AP/Everglades Nat'l Park​At left, you'll find the single most interesting picture taken in Florida in the last five years. (Other than this one, I mean.) Pictured is a 13-foot Burmese Python which has bitten off more than it can chew -- except the python has dispensed with the biting, an ... More >>

A Breeder's View on the Proposed Python Ban

Courtesy of Greg Bryant​Greg Bryant raises reticulated pythons, the longest snakes in the world. From the Retic Ranch in Delray Beach, he breeds animals that can grow to 20 feet and top 100 pounds and sells them around the world. His livelihood is now threatened by federal legislation, proposed la ... More >>

Morning Juice: Aid to Haiti Trickles in; FPL Rate Hike Denied

​The catastrophe in Haiti dominates the headlines in South Florida and around the world:The Port Au Prince airport is now taking chartered flights and aid has arrived -- just nearly enough to meet the dire need for water and fuel. [New York Times]Lynn University in Boca Raton learned late last nig ... More >>

Manatees to Pythons: A Rough Weekend For Local Wildlife

Baby, it's cold outside.​Iguanas falling from the sky.Pythons slithering from the swamps and into suburban yards in search of warmth. It would make a great horror movie if it weren't true life. It's been so frigid in South Florida this week that 250 sea turtles in cold shock have already been pick ... More >>

On the Hunt for Exotic Lizards in the Florida Everglades