Please Don’t Eat That Florida Burmese Python
Posted 2024-08-22 by
Python eating is legal in Florida, but the Health Department advises against it due to high levels of mercury
You may want to think twice before chowing down on that deep-fried Florida Burmese python. The Florida Department of Health is advising folks not to consume pythons caught in the state because of a risk of unhealthy mercury levels in their meat.
Naples Daily News reports that with the recent conclusion of the Florida Python Challenge, there are people consuming the meat, even after the warning was issued. According to FWC’s Python Challenge website, it’s not against the law to eat a python; it’s just not recommended.
The 10-day Florida Python Challenge was created by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC) in an effort to remove the invasive pythons from wild lands in South Florida. The competition started on Friday, August 9 and ended Sunday August 18. The competition offered up $25,000 in prizes during this year's hunt.
According to Tampa Bay Times, more than 600 hunters participated in this year’s challenge, with the goal of beating last year’s total of 209 pythons killed. The grand prize winner received $10,000.
Burmese pythons typically grow to 16 feet long and can weigh approximately 200 pounds. A 19-foot-long python was caught in Naples on July 12, 2023. The invasive snakes are decimating native creatures, such as marsh rabbits, deer, wading birds and even alligators. Their aggressive predation on native wildlife robs native predators, such as panthers, raptors, alligators and bobcats of their primary food sources.
The pythons are found just south of Lake Okeechobee to Key Largo and from western Broward County west to Collier County.
The FWC warns that some of the Burmese pythons removed from the Everglades that have been tested for mercury levels have contained amounts of mercury considered too high for human consumption.
"Though it is not illegal to eat python meat, the Florida Department of Health recently finalized a consumption advisory for Burmese pythons found in Florida, advising ‘Do Not Consume Python’ due to the high levels of mercury found in python meat.”
A Palm Beach Post article reports that the toxicology results on 487 snakes led to the advisory.
