There’s a new challenge afoot. First, a little background. How did they get here? No one knows for certain. It’s reported that Pythons were first spotted in 2000 in Florida’s Everglades National Park.

The creatures may have snaked their way as far north as Georgia, reports Peter Watson in Spectator US. Hence, the annual Python Challenge, a 10-day event to remove these beasts, is mounted in the Everglades with $25,000 in prize money to be won.

This year was exceptionally effective: a 16-ft, eight-inch-thick python weighing 105 pounds was caught. There are strict, scientific rules about how they must be killed: by shooting bolts into the part of the brain called the cerebellum, rather than using firearms, to produce the immediate loss of consciousness (this is called “pithing”).

Still, there’s more: Iguanas. Selling green iguanas is prohibited. What is legal? To kill and eat iguanas.

What is illegal? To import them. Keeping Iguanas as pets is looked at askance.

Killing Igaunas varies between localities, but they are viewed as vermin by most people. Hated might be too strong a description, you probably are thinking, but why else would Palm Beachers join roaming morning patrols to shoot the creatures?

Moving In or Moving Out 

Then there is local Donald Trump, resident of Palm Beach. Trump gets the same respect from progressives usually reserved for pythons and iguanas: What to do about him?

No fewer than seven properties in the zone have changed hands. And here is a fair question: are these people moving in, or moving out?

Local police have started declaring Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club a security zone. This zone stretches for seven blocks, north to south, and from the Atlantic Ocean to the Intracoastal Waterway, continues Mr. Watson.

It is impossible to be certain, of course, but we do know that the latest property sold for $16.99 million, down from an asking price of $24 million when it first came on the market. Read into that what you will, but when Trump is in residence, the whole area is cordoned off by police who limit traffic only to local residents, their staff, and workmen.

Everyone else has to divert via the mainland, adding a good 30 minutes to the journey. And this heavy police presence is having a marked effect on the finances of the local council, which has asked Congress to reimburse it for the extra expenditure needed when Trump is in town, as happened during his first term in office, though the council has not yet received an answer.

Challenges to Living in the Palm Beaches

Also hard to swallow are several unpalatable changes: beachfront parking at $4 an hour; hourly fees at athletic fields for youth sports organizations; increasing fees at local museums.

Property taxes are also on the rise, and residents are pushing back, although in the long run it shouldn’t matter much, notes Watson.

Figures just released show that the taxable property value of Palm Beach County has surged by an incredible $141 billion since 2020. Since tax rates typically range from $18 to $20 per $1,000 of taxable value, that means an annual tax-take … of $2.8 billion extra.

Good things are also happening at Palm Beach International Airport, where 65% of the traffic is private and growing. The south runway is extending from about 3,200 feet to a massive 8,000 feet (lines of private aircraft waiting to depart, according to airport director Laura Beebe, is not part of the private aircraft experience).

In more staggering news, Slate Airlines has just announced a new route from PBIA to Nantucket, the summer home of many Palm Beachers. Slate has also joined forces with Buccan (a local restaurant recently frequented by Trump’s children, as well as by Taylor Swift), which provides stylish onboard snacks.

In a recent survey, Palm Beachers, also known to be in love with themselves, were asked what they enjoyed eating for dinner. No surprise, Monster Burmese python and, for that matter, illegal iguana meat were two items missing from the menu.