Yup, we had 'em in Virginia. Midnights on the cops, go to a burglar alarm, new guy goes around one side and......you hear the scream when he walks through the web. That's why you wave your baton in front of you!
Tracking the males to find the females is a great idea.... Riding through that area the last few years I haven't seen any large animals either as usually you see deer when riding to Everglades City. I saw a few of these big snakes on the SW coast of Florida (East Cape area) when I was still guiding. To catch them there is impossible and the only way to get rid of them there would be to shoot on sight... Native species of all kinds are under pressure from invasive species from all types too, be it plant or animal...
I sawr it myself, I most surely did I mighta been a bit nervous, but you didn’t seem nervous at all, so I figured well hell this’ll probably turn out alright, and if it doesn’t, it’ll damn sure make for a good story
Been there, and done that. I’ve had some evil shit over the years that seemed it’s only mission in life was to take mine. Loved every minute of it, and still have about a dozen arboreal cages for venomous snakes. Maybe one day I’ll play with some again. The urge is there, but it usually passes as quickly as it arrives.
I remember some kinda puff adder you were messing around with on your living room floor one evening in ‘02 or thereabouts, I was fairly relieved when that ill-tempered sumbitch got put back in its cage