I found this randomly on the internet
And wanted to know your guy’s thoughts on it. . .
https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/weather/2020/11/19/florida-python-its-whats-dinner/6328020002/
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I don’t really see it as too much different than eating any other animal, but I guess I’m biased as I’m a vegetarian. I’ve noticed that horse people get worked up over horse slaughter, but I don’t know if herp keepers would parallel that. It’ll be interesting to see!
edit: My inclination is also to think that, regardless of how people feel about eating reptiles, if you’re going to eat a given animal type, you might as well eat the invasive species and lay off the endangered ones.
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I see both sides to it, I could see how some people would get upset but then to look at the flip side, for instance how well large python species have thrived in Florida and become a SEVERELY bad invasive species, most of the time in Florida they just kill them, they don’t try to relocate or anything because the snakes thrive to well in the environment and Florida has no where to relocate them too. So in a way, it could help protect natural flora and fauna well also providing a better way to deal with their rampant invasive species problem.
(If they have a different process for dealing with invasive snakes, please do correct my comment so I’m not miss informing anyone — or tag me and I’ll edit it.)
Another example is where I live, (minnesota), there was an article published that got some people in the herp community upset because a man well out hunting (its currently rifle deer season here), he found a fairly medium-large crocodilian. We have absolutely no native crocodilian species here, so it was an obvious pet release, the guy called the DNR and asked what he should do and they informed him that if he could humanely and safely shoot it, that he was allowed too since they had no where to relocate it too nor was the odds of it surviving the incoming winter good. Thankfully he was able to make a humane shot, and he’s a hunter who uses all parts of the animals he kills and stated he’d be using what he could and then finding another way to honor the animal with the parts he couldn’t. But unlike Florida with its nice temps, our harsh winters are much more a death sentence and a horrible one compared to someone humanely hunting and using the animal.
If people are going to use it for food, especially with everything going on in the world where some people may have a harder time getting food, vs just killing to deal with the invasive problem or hunting for sport, I don’t really see much of an issue as long as it’s humane and ethical.
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Yeah, in florida all the burmese pythons are terrible because of how invasive they are, hunters get paid hundreds of dollars a day to kill the pythons and then they get to keep the skin and the meat, so it’s not surprising that if they would have meat they mine as well eat it because most people don’t have a pet crocodile or cougar to feed it to 
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Doesn’t look the best to me, I think something like an iguana would be my first choice if I had to eat reptile for dinner. 
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I am someone that both loves reptiles/all other animals, and is a conservationist that actively hunts/fishes. I especially target either invasive species or those that are over populated due to lack of natural predators. One of the motos we have with invasive species (especially with the Asian carp species) is “If you can’t beat em, eat em.” Whenever I go to Florida next I was actually planning on hunting a few invasive species, eating some of the meat/taking it home myself. The rest I would find people/soup kitchens to donate it to. I will probably keep the skins for crafts and skulls as trophies so as little as possible is wasted.
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I was actually planning to go down to florida too when hurricane Eta came through so I cancelled. I was also planning to go python hunting down in florida, I wasn’t sure if I’d kill or not but if I did I’d donate the meat and keep the skeleton/bones/skin for display pieces
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It’s really interesting that they accumulate mercury in such a different way than other species. If they are safe I think it’s a great way to deal with the invasives. Not only from the ethical stance of utilizing animals where the only practical solution is killing them, but also because if it catches on it will create demand, which will hopefully incentivize more people to catch them. Though, it is also very likely that if there is demand most of it will be met by captive bred animals which will almost certainly be safer and cheaper.
It’s always interesting to me the reactions people have to which animals are ‘okay’ to eat and which aren’t. For me the criteria is whether it can it be raised and slaughtered humanely. It’s the reason I’m on the fence about horse meat, not because it distresses me to think about an animal I keep as a pet as potential food, but because slaughtering horses humanely on a large scale is very difficult.
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Interesting enough, in some countries people refer to iguanas as “tree chickens”.
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Ate there many places in Florida where one can donate snake meat?
I’ve read that people have been eating iguanas for a long time so they must taste better than python lol!
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Looks pretty good honestly. I’m sure they taste far better than a Burmese python.
Chicken of the trees, someone said? 
perfect
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I was gonna post this same article as soon as I saw it
Id say its pretty much hitting 2 birds with 1 stone. You are helping in eradicating an invasive species and not just letting it go to waste. If there is nutritional value in it, why not eat it? I, however, don’t really see myself eating snake anytime soon.
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Looks like a Burmese python to me. 
LOL
That’s what the want you think but it is something much more deadly (cuter)
To reveal the answer tap below find out what it is
Find out
Ball python LOL 
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Nope no bush meat for me.
I can eat chickens,
I can eat pigs,
I can eat cows,
But if "Burmese " looks like that…
I can’t eat 'em…
They’re too cute…
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Aren’t they pretty high in mercury? It’s probably something you could eat a little of but not a lot. Also not sure how good they’d be. I wouldn’t think great, but probably palatable
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