UF researchers deploy robotic rabbits across South Florida to fight Burmese python explosion
Scattered in python hot spots among the cypress and sawgrass of South Florida is the state’s newest weapon in its arsenal to battle the invasive serpent, a mechanical lure meant to entice the apex predator to its ultimate demise.
Just don’t call it the Energizer bunny.
Researchers at the University of Florida have outfitted 40 furry toy rabbits with motors and tiny heaters that work together to mimic the movements and body temperature of a marsh rabbit — a favorite python meal.
They spin. They shake. They move randomly, and their creation is based on more than a decade of scientific review that began with a 2012 study that transported rabbits into Everglades National Park to see if, and how quickly, they would become python prey.
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Brightline’s South Florida ridership grows for first time in years and this is why
For the first time in about two years, the private passenger train Brightline is gaining riders in South Florida following its reintroduction of commuter passes for the tri-county area, but ridership in the region still lags far behind 2023 figures.
More than 84,000 people rode Brightline between Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties in June, a 7% increase from one year prior, the company’s latest ridership report published July 14 said. It was the second month in a row that Brightline’s South Florida year-on-year ridership grew.
A Brightline spokesperson credited this renewed growth in part to the new commuter pass it launched in May for South Florida riders — a 40-ride package with costs as low as $15 per ride — that is almost as cheap as the $10-per-ride program it killed in 2024.
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Grandview Market closing as part of West Palm Beach’s Warehouse District reboot
The Warehouse District in West Palm Beach is getting a reboot that backers say will bring in home furnishings, interior design, wellness and fitness retailers to the district, which consists of warehouses initially built between 1925 and 1974. It will also see the shuttering of the food hall known as Grandview Public Market, with aspirations to bring in other dining options.
The district sits along Elizabeth and Clare avenues, about a mile south of CityPlace.
The rehabbing of the Warehouse District is a venture by real estate investor Alex Griswold, who bought the properties in 2024. Griswold recently brought in veteran retail leasing executive Francis X. Scire Jr., the leasing director for West Palm Beach’s Nora District, to fill the project’s spaces.
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Diamond Walker is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at dkwalker@gannett.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Palm Beach County news: Robotic rabbits in everglades; Grandview closing