Swamp, I just finished the survey. Some things in there that need to really be looked at:

1) No foothold traps with a jaw spread over 5.75" including those set in the water for beaver
2) All footholds must have offset or rubber jaws
3) No drowning sets allowed
4) Traps or Snares cannot be set within 300 feet of a road
5) Prohibits snare entanglement/kill poles

I tried to educate them on each of those topics. Small foothold traps staked to the bank are a recipe for disaster with beaver. If the point of this regulations is to promote humane trapping, they missed the mark on that one. Large foothold drowning sets are MUCH more humane.

Not being a FL resident, I did not participate in their survey. But I did review some of their FAQ's and came away thinking when it comes to wildlife damage and animal control, FWC are not a serious bunch. Case in point is how they address the issue of the Burmese Python. They moan and groan about the damage pythons have done, yet place all kinds of restrictions on how to hunt and kill them. It seems they mainly want you to hunt them by hand, a slow, tedious and potentially dangerous way to do it, Trapping them is not allowed. There is an annual roundup event, but one report I read said in 2023, they only caught 200 snakes total. Considering the bounty they pay (as much as $200 per snake) I'd think a skilled and financially motivated trapper could do that in a week. A hoard of those guys could put the hurt on them in a hurry.

One could almost be forgiven for thinking they now see these snakes as a resource to manage vs an invasive nuisance to be rid of. Ergo, not a serious bunch.

This is a first.A state coming back around to steel traps after having outlawed them in 1973.I dont understand the beaver regs,but I wouldn't bother with the rubber jaw/offset jaw portion.They work and its one heck of a lot better than where they've been the last 53 years.

You apparently have never visited the terrain in question.

Traps for such large snakes would be ineffective and catch far more native species many of which either are endangered or near endangered.

The terrain is flat, pool table flat, often wet and every square inch up to eight foot high occupied by a grass, palm, palmetto, moss, orchid, briar and if not that then cheek to jowl row upon row of suburbia. Oh, and every bit of that has both venomous snakes and crocodilians. You also will share most of this terrain with snowbirds, foreigner s both legal and illegal, DEA and ICE, various state and feds, tree huggers, developers and cattlemen aka crackers. You're not turning loose bubba with guns in most of South Florida.

I did it as non resident. Wow, no drowning sets and no footholds over 5-3/4” if I remember that correctly. Thats some serious restriction for beaver trapping.