Florida offers minimum wage in new python hunting program

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Burmese pythons can grow up to 19 feet. Photo via Flickr.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) The state agency overseeing Everglades restoration projects plans to pay people to kill Burmese pythons in the wetlands.

The South Florida Water Management District said in a statement Thursday that 25 people will be selected for a 60-day pilot program that aims to remove the invasive predators from state-owned lands.

Starting April 1, participants will be given special access to python-infested district property in Miami-Dade County. They’ll be paid minimum wage up to eight hours each day, plus $50 per python. They’ll receive extra money for snakes measuring longer than 4 feet and for eliminating python nests with eggs.

Registration begins Friday at www.sfwmd.gov/pythonprogram.

Officials say pythons are decimating populations of native Florida mammals, which deprives panthers, alligators, bobcats and birds of their primary food source in the Everglades.

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