Veterans and Youth Hunt Pythons in Florida

War vets, inner city youth join to trap Florida pythons
Yahoo News
Leila MACOR Agence France-Presse
June 30, 2017

Boynton Beach (United States) (AFP) - US war veteran Chad Brown suffers from PTSD after serving in Iraq and Somalia, has been homeless and classified as mentally disabled, sold his blood for $20 a pop and tried to kill himself.

The NGO Soul River, founded by war veteran Chad Brown, bring together veterans dealing with PTSD and disadvantaged inner city youth for outdoor excursions to help find healing through nature (AFP Photo/Javier GALEANO)

Now he has found some semblance of redemption in the swamps of Florida, mucking around with disadvantaged inner city youths to catch snakes and get a taste of nature as he works to connect with other people.

The project is the brain child of a Portland-based NGO called Soul River. The kids find adult mentors while the vets gain some perspective on life, says Brown, a decorated Navy veteran who founded the organization.

On this particular day Brown is with another vet and five youths in the Loxahatchee nature reserve, on Florida's east coast, when a Burmese python slithers out of a sack that a forestry official had been holding it in.

Later, the group troops off into a swamp with muck up to their hips infested with mosquitos and alligators. But a Florida Everglades guide assures them that the big-toothed critters do not like human flesh. All the humans get are bug bites.

Brown founded Soul River in 2011 after concluding that a simple sport -- fly fishing -- was the only thing that helped him battle his PTSD. 

- Natural medicine - 

Brown left the Navy in 1994 and bottomed out in 2000 when he was admitted to a psychiatric ward and thought he had lost everything. But life changed when he ventured out into nature. He went fishing.read more here

Swamp Apes Hunt Down Demons-Pythons and PTSD

Military Vets Hunt Everglades Pythons for Therapy and Country
Sunshine State News
By: NANCY SMITH
Posted: June 17, 2014

A small but mighty human force in the Everglades is doing more for Florida with skilled hands and good will than all the misguided billionaires with their causes and cash poking into Florida's election business.

But wait! If a billionaire wants to redeem himself and make a real difference in Florida, read on. I'd like to introduce him to the Swamp Apes.

The Swamp Apes are newly returned military veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq. They're still suffering from residual war trauma. They're home, on friendly soil, but with a sense of mission unaccomplished, they're doing a job few are prepared to do -- hunting down Burmese pythons in Everglades National Park.

And, quite honestly, these veterans could use a benefactor. They could use a billionaire. A lowly millionaire, even -- somebody with a taste for philanthropy and a need to leave a legacy -- to support their important work. Right now they receive no money but supply all the equipment and resources they need themselves. Most of the money comes out of Tom Rahill's pocket.

Rahill, 57, founded the Swamp Apes six years ago. His idea was to help vets overcome their post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by enabling them to spend time in the wild. He's found a way to kill two birds with one stone -- provide vets the wilderness experience and help them complete a mission for the country they pledged to serve. Rahill finds it powerful medicine.
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Florida Python Hunters Facebook
Swamp Apes group gives war veterans missions in the Everglades

Deer Hunting in Florida

This came in my email from a friend with ties here in Florida. It is a Reticulated Python caught after a venison meal.

Yes they are that big
Florida Python Hunt Launched to Curb Slithering Population

Florida: A dangerous place to live

I agree with this! They left out the rain. Coming from New England, I was used to white-outs with snow storms but never once heard of a "rain out" when you cannot see in front of you at all. I've been trapped on many highways when this happens. Not much fun that's for sure. Then there is the fact we moved from Massachusetts in 2004 right before Charlie, Francis and Jean decided to blow thru for a visit. We were told that Central Florida didn't have hurricanes before we decided where to live.

There is much to enjoy about Florida. One thing that's for sure is, there is never a dull moment on the news.

Florida: A dangerous place to live Florida may represent a paradise found for folks escaping frigid, northern climes. Newcomers, however, may not realize that while our state has natural beauty, it is also fraught with natural threats. Consider lightning strikes: Central Florida is the U.S. capital. And, statewide, lightning causes more weather-related deaths than all other kinds of weather events combined, according to the National Weather Service. Florida has been socked by three of the top 10 deadliest hurricanes; eight of the most costly; and five of the most intense, according to historical data compiled by the National Hurricane Center in Miami. We have shark attacks on the coast and sinkholes pock-marking our porous interior.

Destructive tornadoes have raked our region several times. And we 18 million or so Floridians share this uncertain environment with about 1.25 million alligators, a native species known to occasionally attack people, and an estimated "tens of thousands" of Burmese pythons, a non-native species that is proving to live up to its alpha-predator status.
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A dangerous place to live Florida