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These are the cases of two Burmese pythons, both mutilated. One case is a crime, the other a state job.

In bitterly ironic twist, the Humane Society of the United States is offering a reward of up to $2,500 for information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the mutilation, neglect, and abandonment of an emaciated 7-foot male Burmese python who was stabbed twice, shot, and released in York Haven, Pa.

"Snakes require specialized expertise and care and deserve the same humane treatment as all other animals,” said Sarah Speed, Pennsylvania state director for the HSUS.

Sadly the Humane Society of the United States has said nothing about the recent mutilation and slaughter of a similar, yet larger, Burmese python by Florida Forest Service Rangers, killed by being beaten to death by rakes:

Tarrete held the tail, and Chaney grabbed the head. The two killed it with a rake rangers usually use to set fire breaks during controlled burns, Tarrete said.

Perhaps Sarah Speed can speak to her compatriots at HSUS in Florida about offering a similar reward and prosecute the Florida Forest Rangers with the same enthusiasm. Unfortunately her compatriots at HSUS, both in Florida and at the national level, were among the main proponents of the new federal regulations, and state regulations, that allow a duality in laws to occur. Where in one state mutilating a python is a crime, and in another it is a state-funded job opportunity.

Perhaps she can also ask why her organization is paying thousands of dollars to prosecute someone for mutilating a python in Pennsylvania, and has simultaneously spent hundreds of thousands of dollars convincing the State of Florida and the USFWS to essentially mutilate these animals on an industrial scale.

In the meantime this is yet another example of Burmese pythons being "dumped" by irresponsible owners, after the species was recently listed by the USFWS as "injurious," preventing import and interstate transport. This despite USFWS assurance that this would not happen as owners would have local outlets to place their animals.

Unfortunately this is just the beginning, and these numbers will continue to rise as more Burmese python owners find fewer and fewer people and organizations willing to accept their animals.

And sadly, one wonders if the snakes would have both met the same ends in shelters, had neither been mutilated, just surrendered.

Multiple White House sources have confirmed that the Obama administration has approved the use of armed drones in the fight against the invasive Burmese python, pending clearance by the Federal Aviation Administration. While the use of armed drones to eliminate threats outside U.S. borders has become rather commonplace, this is the first time that the weapons have been approved for use inside the United States.

"This is an escalation that we don't think the pythons are prepared for. We hope the technology will give us an edge." said one unnamed official. When asked about the $1,200,000 per missile/python cost he replied, "They're eating endangered wood rats. And they are putting American snakes out of work. They have to be stopped before they make the I-10 corridor. Once that happens, we'll start finding em in El Paso, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle...then it's game over. The Canadians are even less prepared than we are."

Both Lockheed-Martin and Northrop-Grumman are said to be preparing drone-based python remediation programs, as are European defense contractors SAAB and MBB. Brazil's Embraer is said to have a head start after developing a similar drone based Anaconda remediation program for it's neighbor Venezuela, but faces challenges selling in the U.S. market after it's Super Tucano deal got hung up in congressional red-tape. "We are the only ones that have actual field experience using laser guided weapons from high altitude to remove yellow Anacondas, the Israelis have only gotten theirs to work with Sand Vipers, and then only with the nominate species Vipera ammodytes" said Embraer's Python Project Manager Pedro Borbón."The Israelis have no jungles to test in as well, all of their work has been in the desert. That might be fine once the pythons reach New Mexico and Arizona, but that cedes the pythons the entire gulf coast."

Other American defense contractors are hard at work on their own remediation products, services and proposals, some less high-tech than others. World Ultradyne Security Systems, formerly a division of Blackwater Associates, is putting its former special forces operatives to work training "A Teams", or action teams, of specially trained mongoose, to hunt out the pythons on the ground. "We' have 100,000 of these rodents ready and trained so far, we are just waiting on the go ahead from the Park Service and USF&W to insert them into the Everglades with a large scale airdrop from C-130 transport aircraft. We're not going to win this until we put boots on the ground, four tiny jump boots at a time" Said Earl Wycleff, former Army Ranger and program manager. When asked about the possibility that the mongoose themselves may not return, and in turn become established Ultradyne has already considered that and is preparing "B Teams" of cougars to release and remediate any mongoose that fail to return. And if the cougars become established? "Bears. Bears are cougars' natural enemy, so we are working with bears. The Russian bears seem easiest to train, probably due to their extensive circus background."