TravisBickle62: No Haitians?

The little meat you'll find on one of those is stringy and full of pollutants. No thanks.

revrendjim: Boar have been in Florida since Ponce de Leon. Or maybe it was De Soto. Regardless, that's like 500 years. How long does it take to qualify as native?

When they adapt to the land in such a way as to not destroy it. In other words, when they can achieve homeostasis. Read the problems section, but disregard the agricultural conflicts as well as the human conflicts; you'll find those anywhere whether they're native or introduced.

/You were right with De Soto
//kills the hogs and donates the carcass to soup kitchens
///yes they do take them very happily

Welfare Xmas: Nutria: The other white swamp rat

Nutria are everywhere. Have seen this little mutherfarkers in Oregon.

The bastards burrow into levees, raising the flood risk, and no nearby garden is safe. The University of Oregon made a few waves a while back when a gardener publicly enforced their "kill on sight" policy regarding nutria, but nutria have so few redeeming qualities that even the PETA types couldn't muster much enthusiasm in their defense. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife recommends euthanasia for nutria, preferably via a .22 to the head if outside city limits (if inside city limits, trapping is the preferred method, but if a live trap is used, a transportation permit may be needed to take the nutria out of town so it can be legally shot).

TuteTibiImperes: wildcardjack: Is there a system of commercial harvesting and distribution for these invasive species?

Once you open up the purchasing channels then suppliers will make a dent. You might have to subsidize something at some point to get the chain going but then it will be self sufficient until the invasive species are rare. Then economics becomes a cyclical predator.

I don't know if there is a lot of commercial demand for any of these, but the hunting/fishing regulations are pretty lax for all of them.

For wild pigs/boars you don't even need a hunting permit if you are on private land, and there is no season limit or bag limit. For public land you need a hunting license, but the approved season is most of the year.

For pythons you don't need a hunting license for private land and there is no bag limit, but you do need to sign up for the python hunting program if you want to catch them in the everglades.

For lionfish all you need is a recreational fishing license and you can catch up to 100lbs.

But can you sell them legally after you take them? Thats where the main difference is. For example in California (circa 1990) you used to be able to take wild pigs at a rate of one a day + 1 in possession all year long and rags cost 15 dollars each. But you couldnt sell any part of the pigs legally. So basically legal hunting was limited to freezer space of the hunters and friends of hunters and rented meat locker storage (which is expensive long term). This meant that few hunters had a place to put more than 5 breeding age 70 to 300 lb pigs (which are cumbersome) or ten young 20-40 lb pigs (which are tastier and handier but dont have much effect on population size.) It also means that there is no way for most people to taste wild pig and no way for most chefs to legally get it even if they love the taste. So wild feral pigs are still a problem here.

If, on the other hand if the same one-a-day-one-in-possession laws applied but hunters could legally sell the pigs for, say, $1.00 a pound on the hoof to meat lockers, then hunters would target bigger breeding age pigs. Hunting trips could pay for themselves or even be profitable, And wild pigs would become rarer and rarer until the laws changed.

mikaloyd: on the hoof to meat lockers

Gan! Not on the hoof, I meant field dressed. On the hoof is live and wild pigs almost never cooperate while alive.

Hunted javalinos and cooked them on a spit.
Ate rattler on a NM mountain top.
Had tender trout from a stream raw.

Had a blind date with a vegan last week and ordered the fois gras.

I will eat it if it keeps me alive.
I'll not change my diet to accomodate getting laid.

Preservation of my life comes before procreation.

But when the landscape changes to the point that I can't take a pee in the back yard at night with out having to worry about what might bite me on the pecker, that critter had best reasess my raised bed of garlic, my weapon collection, and my growing recipie collection.

olddinosaur: FirstNationalBastard: They want Floridians to eat old people moving south?

Done in one.

And then redone by people too lazy to read the thread.

Cubans = local invasive species

You'd think that the aquarium industry would have gotten rid of the lionfish.

Years ago I was stationed in Hawaii, and did a lot of field excercises on the East Range, what has been colonized by boar that were brought in by (I think) the spanish way back in the day. They are mean, destructive animals. I got little love for 'em.

binkyman: skinink: "... to encourage Floridians to start eating the local invasive species "
So, Canadian Snowbirds, then?

Someone has to bring some money to your economy.

Yeah, whatever would we do if all the gaudy souvenir shops, country kitchen buffets, and golf cart dealerships closed down.

Just think, we might actually get a restaurant that stays open after 8pm.

fusillade762: buckler: fusillade762: wyltoknow: I have a friend who goes out boar hunting around here, cooks 'em in his smoker. Is this supposed to be a "omg look at dem stupid Floridians" thing? If so then I guess I'm a stupid Floridian, but that shiat is delicious.

We've got a place here in Portland that serves boar tacos. Need to try them sometime.

Really? Where?

Pok Pok

Though I was mistaken, it's not in a taco. 2nd item down under "Charcoal grilled specialties" on the right side of the menu page.

Sure you weren't thinking of Trebol? They have boar tacos. Pretty delicious.

fusillade762: wyltoknow: I have a friend who goes out boar hunting around here, cooks 'em in his smoker. Is this supposed to be a "omg look at dem stupid Floridians" thing? If so then I guess I'm a stupid Floridian, but that shiat is delicious.

We've got a place here in Portland that serves boar tacos. Need to try them sometime.

Of course you do...

Dow Jones and the Temple of Doom: binkyman: skinink: "... to encourage Floridians to start eating the local invasive species "
So, Canadian Snowbirds, then?

Someone has to bring some money to your economy.

Yeah, whatever would we do if all the gaudy souvenir shops, country kitchen buffets, and golf cart dealerships closed down.

Just think, we might actually get a restaurant that stays open after 8pm.

If your local economy would support it you would likely have it right now. So shut up and take the old people money!

mikaloyd: TuteTibiImperes: wildcardjack: Is there a system of commercial harvesting and distribution for these invasive species?

Once you open up the purchasing channels then suppliers will make a dent. You might have to subsidize something at some point to get the chain going but then it will be self sufficient until the invasive species are rare. Then economics becomes a cyclical predator.

I don't know if there is a lot of commercial demand for any of these, but the hunting/fishing regulations are pretty lax for all of them.

For wild pigs/boars you don't even need a hunting permit if you are on private land, and there is no season limit or bag limit. For public land you need a hunting license, but the approved season is most of the year.

For pythons you don't need a hunting license for private land and there is no bag limit, but you do need to sign up for the python hunting program if you want to catch them in the everglades.

For lionfish all you need is a recreational fishing license and you can catch up to 100lbs.

But can you sell them legally after you take them? Thats where the main difference is. For example in California (circa 1990) you used to be able to take wild pigs at a rate of one a day + 1 in possession all year long and rags cost 15 dollars each. But you couldnt sell any part of the pigs legally. So basically legal hunting was limited to freezer space of the hunters and friends of hunters and rented meat locker storage (which is expensive long term). This meant that few hunters had a place to put more than 5 breeding age 70 to 300 lb pigs (which are cumbersome) or ten young 20-40 lb pigs (which are tastier and handier but dont have much effect on population size.) It also means that there is no way for most people to taste wild pig and no way for most chefs to legally get it even if they love the taste. So wild feral pigs are still a problem here.

If, on the other hand if the same one-a-day-one-in-possession laws applied but hunters could legally sel ...

So in other words... the hunters' greed prevents the masses from enjoying delicacies and keeps invasive species' population numbers high?

Gotcha.

Welfare Xmas: Trapped87: not too fishy tasting

Just for the record, if you are eating fish and it tastes fishy it's because it isn't fresh.

That also applies to other things besides fish...

LordJiro: Encouraging Floridians to catch venomous lionfish, or hunt huge pythons or aggressive boars, is a win-win situation.

The invasive species get rarer, and the dumber Floridians get weeded out.

The pigs invaded in the 1500s with the spanish. They've been hunted here in Fl. since then, with just about anything - dogs and a knife, spears, muzzle loaders, bows, crossbows, general firearms, and trapping are all legal methods here in Fl, and since they are considered varmints they have no season.

doglover:

So in other words... the hunters' greed prevents the masses from enjoying delicacies and keeps invasive species' population numbers high?

Gotcha.

I think the masses keep the masses from enjoying a lot of delicacies. Mediocre chain joints to gangbusters business in FL. One of my favorite locally owned Italian joints recently had to close their doors while Olive Garden packs them in every night serving food for higher prices that isn't half as good.

I live on the Gulf Coast which has a lot of midwestern transplants, so things might be a bit better on the Atlantic Coast where they have the benefit of Northeasterners with better taste in food, but around here the best affordable restaurants are all Latin-American or Caribbean ethnic joints. There's awesome locally owned Cuban, Peruvian, Salvadoran, Mexican, and Puerto Rican restaurants in my town but many of the times I go to those places I'm the only white guy in the joint. The old people are all set in their ways and would rather eat at Olive Garden or Perkins than expand their palates and the local rednecks, which are of considerable numbers and who you would think would be open to eating up some critters, seem content to stick to fast food and bars with typical burgers-and-deep-fried-stuff bar food.

They sound all Farked up. That queer-lookin' bastard in the photo is a prime example. He obviously plays two instruments - the skin flute and the meat whistle.

Years ago I had wild boar during a Thanksgiving feast.
The host had locally hunted and then cured the boar in his wine cellar.
It was, by far, the best pork I've ever had. Domesticated pig doesn't even come close.

LadyHawke: This is sort of like the Snakehead fishing tournament they hold up here. Rules are each fish has to be killed, and there's a big cookout at the end.

So how's it taste?

No one is going to do anything about the python problem in Florida until they start dining on white children. Then those kick-ass toothless Swamp People from Louisiana will arrive by the busload, start collecting their bounties, and the pythons will disappear.

3dougnight: No one is going to do anything about the python problem in Florida until they start dining on white children. Then those kick-ass toothless Swamp People from Louisiana will arrive by the busload, start collecting their bounties, and the pythons will disappear.

Yeah 'cause only the stupid toothless WHITE swamp people have the necessary skills, intelligence and ambition to get the job done. The brown folk are too stupid and lazy to protect their own childrens.

I shot a wild boar square in the face, literally right between the eyes. I was about thirty feet away and hit it with a .45-70 in a 1884 Springfield trapdoor sniper rifle. The damn thing just stood there for about six hours, no wait, ten of the most terrifying seconds of my life. Then he just dropped. "No, no, don't do that. If you shoot him it will just make him mad."
Not sure the marvelous meat was good enough to shake the heebie jeebies. If I ever do it again I'm going to buy a .577 T-Rex rifle.
Come to think of it, the meat was amazing! I'll check Craigslist for that T-Rex.
Teenagers in the swamps with T-Rex rifles. Bad idea.

rhinoguy: I shot a wild boar square in the face, literally right between the eyes. I was about thirty feet away and hit it with a .45-70 in a 1884 Springfield trapdoor sniper rifle. The damn thing just stood there for about six hours, no wait, ten of the most terrifying seconds of my life. Then he just dropped. "No, no, don't do that. If you shoot him it will just make him mad."
Not sure the marvelous meat was good enough to shake the heebie jeebies. If I ever do it again I'm going to buy a .577 T-Rex rifle.
Come to think of it, the meat was amazing! I'll check Craigslist for that T-Rex.
Teenagers in the swamps with T-Rex rifles. Bad idea.

Next time try a plasma rifle in the 40 watt range.

skinink: "... to encourage Floridians to start eating the local invasive species "
So, Canadian Snowbirds, then?

List of invasive species:

1) New Yorkers
2) French Canadians
3) New Jersey Guidos
4) fat people from Ohio
5) inbred rural Pennsylvanians
6) old farks from Michigan

I think we'll start there and thin the herd a bit, see how it pans out.

My kid doing his part to fight invasive species:

JesseL: My kid doing his part to fight invasive species:

[fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net image 640x512]

Be careful about what he might do with those claws. His expression may look cute, but don't let it fool you; he's got that up-to-no-good evil grin going on there. We've all seen it before:

TuteTibiImperes: wildcardjack: Is there a system of commercial harvesting and distribution for these invasive species?

Once you open up the purchasing channels then suppliers will make a dent. You might have to subsidize something at some point to get the chain going but then it will be self sufficient until the invasive species are rare. Then economics becomes a cyclical predator.

I don't know if there is a lot of commercial demand for any of these, but the hunting/fishing regulations are pretty lax for all of them.

For wild pigs/boars you don't even need a hunting permit if you are on private land, and there is no season limit or bag limit. For public land you need a hunting license, but the approved season is most of the year.

For pythons you don't need a hunting license for private land and there is no bag limit, but you do need to sign up for the python hunting program if you want to catch them in the everglades.

For lionfish all you need is a recreational fishing license and you can catch up to 100lbs.

If Lion fish are invasive why a limit at all?

But seriously if Animal Planet has taught me anything its this:

The way to wipe out an animal population is to show an indigenous people how to cook them. So all you need is an indigenous population of third world tribesmen and you are set, no more python problem.

archichris: TuteTibiImperes: wildcardjack: Is there a system of commercial harvesting and distribution for these invasive species?

Once you open up the purchasing channels then suppliers will make a dent. You might have to subsidize something at some point to get the chain going but then it will be self sufficient until the invasive species are rare. Then economics becomes a cyclical predator.

I don't know if there is a lot of commercial demand for any of these, but the hunting/fishing regulations are pretty lax for all of them.

For wild pigs/boars you don't even need a hunting permit if you are on private land, and there is no season limit or bag limit. For public land you need a hunting license, but the approved season is most of the year.

For pythons you don't need a hunting license for private land and there is no bag limit, but you do need to sign up for the python hunting program if you want to catch them in the everglades.

For lionfish all you need is a recreational fishing license and you can catch up to 100lbs.

If Lion fish are invasive why a limit at all?

But seriously if Animal Planet has taught me anything its this:

The way to wipe out an animal population is to show an indigenous people how to cook them. So all you need is an indigenous population of third world tribesmen and you are set, no more python problem.

You can catch over 100lbs, but you need a saltwater products license. I'm sure the reasoning is that if you're catching more than 100lbs per person at a go you're goal is commercial, and you need to register as a commercial fisherman and go through the appropriate checks and pay the appropriate fees.

your not you're

archichris: TuteTibiImperes: wildcardjack: Is there a system of commercial harvesting and distribution for these invasive species?

Once you open up the purchasing channels then suppliers will make a dent. You might have to subsidize something at some point to get the chain going but then it will be self sufficient until the invasive species are rare. Then economics becomes a cyclical predator.

I don't know if there is a lot of commercial demand for any of these, but the hunting/fishing regulations are pretty lax for all of them.

For wild pigs/boars you don't even need a hunting permit if you are on private land, and there is no season limit or bag limit. For public land you need a hunting license, but the approved season is most of the year.

For pythons you don't need a hunting license for private land and there is no bag limit, but you do need to sign up for the python hunting program if you want to catch them in the everglades.

For lionfish all you need is a recreational fishing license and you can catch up to 100lbs.

If Lion fish are invasive why a limit at all?

But seriously if Animal Planet has taught me anything its this:

The way to wipe out an animal population is to show an indigenous people how to cook them. So all you need is an indigenous population of third world tribesmen and you are set, no more python problem.

One problem...

We already eliminated the indigenous peoples.

So we're screwed then?

Kuroshin:
One problem...

We already eliminated the indigenous peoples.

So we're screwed then?

There are plenty of Seminoles left in FL, and they get over $100,000 per year per person upon adulthood plus a guaranteed free college education courtesy of the casino income. They aren't in a position to need to catch or cook invasive species.

This makes me hungry.

TuteTibiImperes: Kuroshin:
One problem...

We already eliminated the indigenous peoples.

So we're screwed then?

There are plenty of Seminoles left in FL, and they get over $100,000 per year per person upon adulthood plus a guaranteed free college education courtesy of the casino income. They aren't in a position to need to catch or cook invasive species.

Seriously?

rhinoguy: I shot a wild boar square in the face, literally right between the eyes. I was about thirty feet away and hit it with a .45-70 in a 1884 Springfield trapdoor sniper rifle. The damn thing just stood there for about six hours, no wait, ten of the most terrifying seconds of my life. Then he just dropped. "No, no, don't do that. If you shoot him it will just make him mad."
Not sure the marvelous meat was good enough to shake the heebie jeebies. If I ever do it again I'm going to buy a .577 T-Rex rifle.
Come to think of it, the meat was amazing! I'll check Craigslist for that T-Rex.
Teenagers in the swamps with T-Rex rifles. Bad idea.

My dad moved down here about a million years ago, I guess he was 15 or so. He and Uncle Pete went boar hunting. With .22s. Spent an entire afternoon in a tree.

ghare: My dad moved down here about a million years ago, I guess he was 15 or so. He and Uncle Pete went boar hunting. With .22s. Spent an entire afternoon in a tree.

Teenagers aren't generally noted for their patience. I guess that's one way to teach 'em.

The Everglades pythons are extremely high in mercury - you don't want to be eating them. They have roughly double the mercury concentration of the most contaminated tuna.

http://www.livescience.com/8528-mercu ry-invasive-pythons-menu.html
http://www.tampabay.com/news/environm ent/wildlife/hunters-in-everglad e s-warned-dont-eat-the-pythons/1034196

fireclown: You'd think that the aquarium industry would have gotten rid of the lionfish.

Years ago I was stationed in Hawaii, and did a lot of field excercises on the East Range, what has been colonized by boar that were brought in by (I think) the spanish way back in the day. They are mean, destructive animals. I got little love for 'em.

The aquarium industry is the reason for bthe lionfish industry. Same with the pythons and iguanas. People get tired of their exotic pets and let them go, or, they escape.

aevert: LadyHawke: This is sort of like the Snakehead fishing tournament they hold up here. Rules are each fish has to be killed, and there's a big cookout at the end.

So how's it taste?

No clue, I only read about it in the Post. Great idea though.

JungleBoogie: They could put a bounty on each python, say 10 or 20 bucks. Within a few years, the population would go Passenger Pigeon or American Bison. Ditto with pretty much any invasive species. If unemployed high school kids could go out and collect hundreds of dollars in bounties every week, it would help the local economy too.

Spend taxpayer dollars on something for the benefit of the environment? Good luck with that. The only hope of getting that approved is to convince Congress that pythons in the Everglades are a threat to cattle ranchers in Wyoming.

cyberspacedout: JesseL: My kid doing his part to fight invasive species:

[fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net image 640x512]

Be careful about what he might do with those claws. His expression may look cute, but don't let it fool you; he's got that up-to-no-good evil grin going on there. We've all seen it before:

Someone please help me understand this meme. Thanks

Welfare Xmas: DORMAMU: Any one mention snow birds yet? No?

/disappoint

CTRL-F much?

Sarcasm much?

Worked so well for getting rid of nutria right ?

Link

Python i can understand but to be honest, I would just kill the lionfish, would have to be some pretty damned amazing food to get me to mess with something that poisonous.

FabulousFreep: Worked so well for getting rid of nutria right ?

Link

Python i can understand but to be honest, I would just kill the lionfish, would have to be some pretty damned amazing food to get me to mess with something that poisonous.

You have to be a bit careful catching them, but the venom is only in the spines, isn't harmful if eaten, and is broken down by the cooking process anyway. It isn't like Fugu where if you fillet it incorrectly the dish becomes poisonous.

Welfare Xmas: 3dougnight: No one is going to do anything about the python problem in Florida until they start dining on white children. Then those kick-ass toothless Swamp People from Louisiana will arrive by the busload, start collecting their bounties, and the pythons will disappear.

Yeah 'cause only the stupid toothless WHITE swamp people have the necessary skills, intelligence and ambition to get the job done. The brown folk are too stupid and lazy to protect their own childrens.

Huh? I don't think it's because they are white that the swamp people would quickly become as expert at killing pythons as they are with gators. Hunting dangerous animals in a swamp requires a particular skill set that swamp people already possess. They'd be better at it than anyone. I said white children because a few missing brown children wouldn't generate the necessary public outrage that will be necessary to get funds into a bounty program. That is sad, but probably true.

TuteTibiImperes: Kuroshin:
One problem...

We already eliminated the indigenous peoples.

So we're screwed then?

There are plenty of Seminoles left in FL, and they get over $100,000 per year per person upon adulthood plus a guaranteed free college education courtesy of the casino income. They aren't in a position to need to catch or cook invasive species.

Bah. Killjoy.