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Python hunt begins in Fla. Everglades

Associated Press file photo

Skip Snow, left, and Theresa Walters take a Burmese python out of its cage before showing it to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who is not shown, in the Florida Everglades. The Burmese python is an invasive species in the Everglades.

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By The Associated Press

Published: July 17, 2009

TALLAHASSEE - A program to eradicate pythons from the Florida Everglades is beginning.

Friday is the first day herpetology experts with a permit will be allowed to search for and euthanize the pythons, which are not native to the Everglades.

Permit holders are required to provide a photo and the location of each captured python. Wildlife officials will then study that information as well as the snake's size and stomach contents. They hope to learn more about the spread of the species. The initial program runs through Oct. 31.

Officials had previously said that about 10 hunters would have a permit. They will not be able to use firearms or traps to catch the pythons.

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