No pythons caught during FL hunting season

WEST PALM BEACH, FL Not a single python has been caught since the state started allowing hunters with special permits to track them on state-managed lands around the Everglades. The season started March 8 and ends Saturday.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says cold weather is believed to have killed up to 50 percent of the pythons.

They are a problem because they have few natural predators in Florida and are feeding on native wildlife, including endangered species.

Officials say pet owners have freed their snakes and reptiles when they get too big. They also think some Burmese pythons may have escaped from pet shops during Hurricane Andrew in 1992.

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