Bionic Bunnies Set to Take on Pythons in Florida’s Invasive Species Battle 🐰

I’m currently at the “it’s Thursday already?” phase of the workweek and am unsure as to whether or not that is a good thing as of yet.

With that in mind, let’s all take a minute to grab a coffee or whiskey (no judgement) and get this Thursday morning dispatch out the door.

Here's what's worth reading about today:

• Bionic bunnies - Florida researcher’s latest experiment in the fight against pythons 🐰

• Corner crossing debate - Wyoming landowner is heading to SCOTUS in attempt to revoke access 🔐

• Another bust - Illinois court tears up another group of poachers 🧑‍⚖️

• Window service- Watch as this big ol Canadian bull strolls up to a vehicle to say hello 🫎

IT’S WORTH A TRY
BIONIC BUNNIES SET TO TAKE ON BURMESE PYTHONS IN FLORIDA’S INVASIVE SPECIES BATTLE

In a swampy battle against an invasive threat that has been raging since the 1980s, researchers in Florida are infusing a little technological know-how into an age-old problem. Having ravaged the Florida Everglades’ populations of raccoons, marsh rabbits, and other mammals by 85–100% in some areas, the Burmese python has proven to be a worthy adversary to those looking to remove it from the landscape. Despite bounty hunting and annual contests like the Florida Python Challenge, these large, slithering squatters still remain in large numbers throughout southern Florida and continue to treat the Everglades like their personal all-you-can-eat buffet. 

While hunting these massive snakes has resulted in nearly 16,000 of them being removed from the landscape since 2019, researchers are looking for other ways to draw these snakes out into the open, rather than having to send folks in to find them. 

In an effort to turn the tables on these snakes, researchers at the University of Florida are hoping that their new slightly unhinged gambit will tease them into plain sight. By using robotic rabbits that wiggle, warm, and woo snakes to their doom, researchers are betting that these bushy-tailed and waterproof robots will give them a much needed edge in Florida’s quest to evict the state’s slimy stowaways…

🔐 Wyoming Landowner’s Supreme Court Bid Could Lock or Unlock Millions of Acres of Public Land. In a significant development for public land access, Wyoming landowner Fred Eshelman, who owns over 23,000 acres in Carbon County through Iron Bar Holdings, has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a March 2025 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that legalized "corner crossing" in six western states. 

Corner crossing, which involves stepping from one parcel of public land to another at the intersecting corners of checkerboarded land without touching private property, was at the center of a 2020 court case. That case began when Eshelman pressed charges against four Missouri elk hunters - Bradley Cape, Zachary Smith, Phillip Yeomans, and John Slowensky - for using a ladder to cross between public parcels at his Iron Bar Ranch, claiming they invaded his airspace. The 10th Circuit’s ruling in favor of the hunters legalized corner crossing on federal lands in Wyoming, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Kansas, unlocking access to 3.5 million acres of public land.

Eshelman’s Supreme Court appeal, backed by a well-resourced corporate law firm, seeks to reinterpret the 1885 Unlawful Inclosures Act to expand private property rights, potentially restricting public access. However, a favorable SCOTUS ruling for the hunters could expand access to 8.3 million acres of corner-locked public lands across the West. 

Backcountry Hunters & Anglers (BHA), which has supported the hunters with over $200,000 in legal fees, is now fundraising to cover additional costs, aiming for $60,000. The Supreme Court’s decision on whether to hear the case, requiring approval from at least four justices, is expected by mid-October.

🧑‍⚖️ Florida Trio Fined $29K, Banned from Hunting for Poaching Deer in Illinois. In another poaching story coming out of southern Illinois that might have you thinking that you’ve got a case of deja-vu, another group of men have been fined for jack-lighting deer at night. That’s right, just last week, we reported on a story about four Mississippi men who were busted for night-shooting a bunch of trophy whitetails and now we’ve got a trio of Florida men nailed for the same crime.

According to reports, in November of last year, three men from Lakeland, Florida were busted for shooting multiple antlered white tailed deer, following an investigation by the Illinois Conservation Police.  The trio faced charges for various wildlife violations, including spotlighting deer from a vehicle, hunting after legal hours, transporting loaded rifles, shooting from a roadway, and unlawfully taking multiple deer. They used a semi-automatic rifle with a night vision scope and infrared spotlight, driving for hours at night to shoot deer and later loading the carcasses into a rental truck. A late-night search warrant led to the seizure of three illegally taken deer and the firearms used.

Aaron D. Holmes, Parker J. Bell, and Scott L. Adams were charged and later pleaded guilty in Union County Court earlier this month. Their guilty pleas resulted in Holmes receiving seven Wildlife Code violations and fines of $11,697, Bell facing three violations with $11,197 in fines, and Adams charged with four violations, totaling $6,597. 

Their combined fines of $29,491 included civil penalties, with a portion supporting the Illinois Conservation Police Operations Fund. They also face 11.5 years of hunting license revocation across 48 states due to the Interstate Wildlife Violators Compact. 

🐻 Talk about window service.  Watch as this moose (in Canada, obviously) walks right up to this car’s window to say hello (very Canadian of him). In a few more months, this fella likely won’t be all that friendly, so enjoy it while it lasts.

No word on whether he was asking about their vehicle’s extended warranty or not…

🦛 Dreaming of a Cajun Hippo Hunt: Giant Asian carp swimming in rivers, buck-toothed nutria rats in the bayous, 300-pound feral pigs tearing up fields—Louisiana is no stranger to invasives. And the resourceful residents of the Cajun State usually find a way to incorporate these animals into their cuisine—or at least use them as bait for their target species.

But did you know there was once a time when the bayous were planned to be filled with hippos?

It all started in 1884, when visitors to an agricultural convention were introduced to a flowering aquatic plant from the Amazon: the water hyacinth. The public fell in love with its ornate purple blooms, and thanks to fair organizers giving them away for free, the plants quickly spread throughout the state. It didn’t take long before these attractive invaders were choking out nearly every waterway. The state needed to find a solution—and fast. Read the full story.

🇺🇸🇦🇺🇳🇿 Two Yankees, an Australian & a Kiwi Walk Into a Bar : The sky was red and grey as we traversed up. Shale crunched and skidded beneath our boots. I glassed the opposite face, a menagerie of scree slopes and bluffs willing to reveal a mob of tahr. Zach, my Australian companion gasped behind me. The mountains of New Zealand are not high altitude, but they are steep and treacherous.

A few days prior Zach had cleanly taken a nanny tahr, checking that species off his list. Though, he still wanted to claim a bull before he hopped back over the ditch. Previously a fresh dump of snow had sent us packing out of the hills with our tails between our legs, the next two days were our final chance. Somewhere in the folds, crevices and spires of New Zealand’s Southern Alps was a bull tahr.

A week or two prior I picked up two Americans. Liam, a stocky, curly-haired kid from New Jersey with a bottomless pit for a sense of humor and a passion for biology. And Aiden, a lanky aspiring marine from Wisconsin. Two friends I had met at a guide school in Montana a few months prior. They were on a round-the-world trip and their first stop was the land of milk and honey.  Read the full story.

🏝️ Walker’s Cay: An Island Reborn:  Demolished by Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne in 2004 and abandoned for the next fourteen years to molder in the tropics, Walker’s Cay is coming back. Purchased in April 2018 by the Texas businessman and philanthropist Carl Allen, the one-hundred-acre resort is arguably the world’s most famous saltwater fishing destination.

From the late 1960s until it was shuttered after the storms, the tiny island, just a hundred miles off the coast of Florida, served as the hub around which the northern Bahamian fishing industry revolved. It was home to big-ticket tournaments, such as the famed Bertram-Hatteras Shootout and the Bahamas Billfish Championship, and a bucket-list destination for anglers who dreamed of bonefish, permit, and tarpon. The island gained even wider acclaim due to the saltwater fly-fishing pioneer Flip Pallot, host of The Walker’s Cay Chronicles, which debuted on ESPN in 1992 and during its fifteen-year run was often the highest-ranked outdoor show on television.  Read the full story.

Oh, and one more thing…