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Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin

(108,274 posts)
Tue Mar 14, 2023, 09:56 PM Mar 2023

Pythons, Invasive and Hungry, Are Making Their Way North in Florida

MIAMI — So much for all the efforts to slow the proliferation of Burmese pythons in the Florida Everglades over the last two decades, including with paid contractors, trained volunteers and an annual hunt that has drawn participants from as far as Latvia: The giant snakes have been making their way north, reaching West Palm Beach and Fort Myers and threatening ever-larger stretches of the ecosystem.

That was one of the few definitive conclusions in a comprehensive review of python science published last month by the U.S. Geological Survey, which underscored the difficulty of containing the giant snakes since they were first documented as an established population in the state in 2000.

Little is known about how long Burmese pythons live in the wild in Florida, how often they reproduce and especially how large the state’s python population has grown, according to the review, which called the state’s python problem “one of the most intractable invasive-species management issues across the globe.”

Nor is it known how exactly they travel. The review theorized that South Florida’s extensive network of canals and levees “may facilitate long-distance movement by pythons,” though it suggested that slithering and swimming to points north may take awhile.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/pythons-invasive-hungry-making-way-181301558.html

Maybe they'll make it to Tallahassee and stop at the governor's mansion. One can hope.

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Pythons, Invasive and Hungry, Are Making Their Way North in Florida (Original Post) Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin Mar 2023 OP
That's exactly what I hope for. FoxNewsSucks Mar 2023 #1
As far north as West Palm Beach, eh? Ocelot II Mar 2023 #2
Ha! It would take more than one snake PJMcK Mar 2023 #5
Indeed Mickju Mar 2023 #6
IF I lived in S FL, I would be unwilling to let my doggo's go outside without major Ferrets are Cool Mar 2023 #3
I posted before about this. Phoenix61 Mar 2023 #4

PJMcK

(22,055 posts)
5. Ha! It would take more than one snake
Wed Mar 15, 2023, 08:19 AM
Mar 2023

From Wikipedia:

Larger specimens usually eat animals about the size of a domestic cat, but larger food items are known; some large Asian species have been known to take down adult deer, and the Central African rock python, Python sebae, has been known to eat antelope. In 2017, there was a recorded case of a human devoured by a python in Sulawesi, Indonesia.[8] All prey is swallowed whole, and may take several days or even weeks to fully digest.

It would be a fitting demise.

Ferrets are Cool

(21,110 posts)
3. IF I lived in S FL, I would be unwilling to let my doggo's go outside without major
Tue Mar 14, 2023, 11:35 PM
Mar 2023

supervision...maybe even a leash. Even in a fenced in yard. It's just too dangerous.
And then there's the pythons and alligators.

Phoenix61

(17,019 posts)
4. I posted before about this.
Wed Mar 15, 2023, 01:08 AM
Mar 2023

The state of Florida has tried to control the python population in name only. We are half way through March and they have yet to announce the date for the 10-day 2023 rodeo yet. Last year the top winner got a whopping $10,000.

“State-contracted python hunters make $13 an hour plus $50 for the first four feet of snake they catch. Each extra foot is another $25.Nov 28, 2022”

None of that shows they were serious about doing anything about the problem. It shows the exact opposite Aad but not surprising.

“Despite that missed prediction, DeSantis has held press conferences last year and this year to announce each of the next roundups. These events, a break from his droning speeches about such obscure topics as “woke” businesses, have become a feel-good political event and a way to make it seem as if he cares about Florida’s environment even as he gives developers whatever they want.
…..
How about when we capture pythons from now on, we ship them all en masse to Tallahassee? Because the governor wants to be associated with snake-killing, we’ll address the box in care of the Governor’s Mansion.

Then, in groups of 100 or so at a time, the governor can humanely put them all down by talking them to death. Believe it or not, I think that may be his superpower.”

https://georgiarecorder.com/2022/08/04/floridas-python-hunt-promotes-politician-fails-to-eliminate-invading-reptiles/

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