Florida has deployed a new weapon in the Everglades’ ongoing crusade against the invasive and prolifically deadly Burmese python: an army of robot rabbits.
This summer, the University of Florida spread 120 robot rabbits to the Florida Everglades near West Palm Beach to lure out the serpents for an expert to remove, spending about $4,000 per robot, according to NBC News. While officials say it’s too early to determine how successful the traps will be, Florida’s reigning python-slaying champion Taylor Stanberry tells New Times she’s skeptical about the $480,000 price tag.
The Naples woman won the annual Florida Python Challenge after vanquishing 60 Burmese pythons during the ten-day event in July. The snake-wrangling social media influencer, who runs an exotic animal rescue in South Florida, beat more than 900 snake-slayers during the event, vanquishing 60 of the record-setting 294 pythons removed, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC)…