Burmese Pythons
 

In 1992 Hurricane Andrew plowed into south Florida and destroyed around 117,000 buildings.

Among those buildings destroyed were several dozen pet stores which sold exotic animals.

Animals such as the Burmese Python.

A large number of Burmese Pythons that survived were washed out into the Everglades, where they have found the living conditions much to their liking....semi-tropical environment and lots of animals to eat. Their new habitat apparently agrees with them because they are reaching sizes considerably larger than they do in their native habitat.

For 17 years they have been multiplying at a tremendous rate.

They are now encroaching on human habitation that borders the 'glades.

Lots of dogs and cats and at least one child has been killed and eaten, and a number of adults have been attacked.

These snakes are LIGHTNING FAST when attacking prey. They can coil around you quicker than the blink of an eye.

And they are strong. If it's a large snake, even a strong adult male human cannot get free.

The concern is such that organizations are being formed to reduce the python population by hunting.

I don't know if the snakes are being captured or killed, but PETA is getting involved, so I assume some of them have been killed.

Captured pythons are ranging in lengths from 9 feet to almost 20 feet.

I personally have doubts that "hunting" is going to make much difference in their population.

The Everglades is a LARGE area, folks.

The way these snakes have been reproducing, this is, to me, like trying to reduce the population of rabbits by hunting.

Interesting is the fact that the laws regarding exotic pets have not changed.

Just go get a certificate to purchase a python, a cobra, or piranhas for your aquarium.

When you get tired of them, just turn them loose in the wild.

Here's a 15 foot long Burmese Python:


http://www.patriotfiles.com/forum/imgcacheA/23793.png

Steve,...
 

About how many pair of Western Boots do you think can get out of that sucker?
Plus,...do python steaks taste like chicken also? ;);)

Neil

Neil,

Yeah, that's a lot of boots, belts, and billfolds!

I dunno about python steaks, but I hear rattlesnake tastes pretty good. :)

Speak of the Devil...

...this, in today's paper:


http://www.patriotfiles.com/forum/imgcacheA/23794.png

So then, Steve,...
 

...I guess it fair saying: "Watch where you step", in your neck-of-woods?
You live near there?

Neil

Neil,

Okeechobee is down in the lower central part of the state.

I'm up in the panhandle just east of Mobile and Pensacola.

As the years pass, the pythons are extending their habitat. They are already well north of the Miami/Homestead area, and progressing further north.

Eventually their habitat will reach as far west as Texas and as far north as South Carolina.

They won't survive in the cool dry states.

The conditions needed for them to thrive is nearly identical to that of the American alligator.

In the Everglades the pythons are competing with alligators as the dominant predator. So far, it's a draw...in combat with gators the pythons win about half the time.

So, if a state has alligators living in the wild now, it will, some time down the road, have some pythons.

Unless, of course, a way can be found to curtail their spread.