Luring animals by tapping into their sex drive is an age-old practice — deer hunters rattle antlers to bring in territorial bucks. Turkey hunters mimic a hen’s come-hither yelp. The gay community throws Winter and White Parties. Now, researchers from the University of Florida are using a similar principle to track, study and eventually euthanize invasive Burmese pythons in the Everglades ecosystem, where they’ve laid waste to native wildlife. During mating season, from December through February, the females release pheromones that lure in males. The snakes gather in breeding aggregations, and researchers can then catch them and humanely euthanize them. There can be dozens in one entangled engagement. We call it “the back room”.
