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malaise

(267,800 posts)
Sat Mar 3, 2018, 06:23 PM Mar 2018

Full Monty python: Florida snake swallows deer heavier than itself

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/03/python-florida-snake-swallows-deer-heavier-than-itself
<snip>
Researchers studying invasive Burmese pythons in Florida recently came upon something they had never seen before: an 11ft python that had consumed an entire deer that weighed more than the snake itself.

The wildlife biologists stumbled upon the bloated snake in Collier Seminole state park. When they moved it, it began regurgitating a white-tailed deer fawn.

Biologist Ian Bartoszek told the Naples Daily News the fawn weighed 35lb; the snake 31.5lb.

“We were sitting there just trying to process that an animal this size could get its head around what turned out to be a deer,” Bartoszek said. “It’s surreal to see that in the field.”

Bartoszek said it was the largest python-to-prey weight difference he had measured.

White-tailed deer are an important food source for Florida’s endangered panthers, so the researchers are concerned the pervasive snakes could also affect the health of the big cats.

If the snake had been left in the wild, it would have digested the entire deer, Bartoszek said. The predator-to-prey size ratio, he said, stunned his team.

“It showed my team and myself what we were actually dealing with out there, what this python is capable of,” he told the newspaper.

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Full Monty python: Florida snake swallows deer heavier than itself (Original Post) malaise Mar 2018 OP
Damn those who introduced these monsters into the Everglades. hlthe2b Mar 2018 #1
Indeed in the name of capitalism, way too many people have the freedom to destroy malaise Mar 2018 #2
The bulk were released during massive hurricane Andrew which took out, COLGATE4 Mar 2018 #4
Wasn't that the same problem with lion fish malaise Mar 2018 #5
I hadn't heard that before but it certainly seems plausible. COLGATE4 Mar 2018 #6
I know I read about this somewhere malaise Mar 2018 #8
A lot were introduced by irresponsible exotic pet owners too. hlthe2b Mar 2018 #10
True but the large shock came from the hundreds COLGATE4 Mar 2018 #20
Snakes creep me out backtoblue Mar 2018 #3
LOL malaise Mar 2018 #7
Yes, I would fare better than the fawn lol backtoblue Mar 2018 #12
DUzy malaise Mar 2018 #15
Really..... what happens if a little kid gets near one... magicarpet Mar 2018 #9
Strangulation of Sleeping Boys Puts Spotlight on Pythons hlthe2b Mar 2018 #11
Yep - they are deadly n/t malaise Mar 2018 #13
That's nothing ProudLib72 Mar 2018 #14
Okay.... wise guy... magicarpet Mar 2018 #16
Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah malaise Mar 2018 #17
Ha! backtoblue Mar 2018 #18
Thread winner. Lochloosa Mar 2018 #19
You go to the head of the class GWC58 Mar 2018 #22
Unemployed? Here's a job OhNo-Really Mar 2018 #21
Maybe those AR-15 loving hunters can be put to good purpose malaise Mar 2018 #23

hlthe2b

(101,713 posts)
1. Damn those who introduced these monsters into the Everglades.
Sat Mar 3, 2018, 06:25 PM
Mar 2018

These non-native snakes are destroying the entire ecosystem.

malaise

(267,800 posts)
2. Indeed in the name of capitalism, way too many people have the freedom to destroy
Sat Mar 3, 2018, 06:27 PM
Mar 2018

other people, animals, insects and the environment. Same shit with some of the Asian fish.

COLGATE4

(14,732 posts)
4. The bulk were released during massive hurricane Andrew which took out,
Sat Mar 3, 2018, 06:42 PM
Mar 2018

among hundreds of other structures an exotic snake wholesaler. A large number of pythons were released into the glades and the rest is now history.

malaise

(267,800 posts)
5. Wasn't that the same problem with lion fish
Sat Mar 3, 2018, 06:44 PM
Mar 2018

which are now an invasive species as far as the Caribbean Sea

backtoblue

(11,323 posts)
3. Snakes creep me out
Sat Mar 3, 2018, 06:28 PM
Mar 2018

And this story kinda scares me. Thanks alot malaise!!! I needed some new nightmares..

backtoblue

(11,323 posts)
12. Yes, I would fare better than the fawn lol
Sat Mar 3, 2018, 06:54 PM
Mar 2018

Though I miss my 26 inch waist, I don't wanna think about wearing an eleven foot snake as a belt to get it back!


magicarpet

(13,935 posts)
9. Really..... what happens if a little kid gets near one...
Sat Mar 3, 2018, 06:47 PM
Mar 2018

.... of these pythons. Will the snake coil itself around the child, squeeze the life out of it, and then gulp it down whole ?

How horrific.

ProudLib72

(17,984 posts)
14. That's nothing
Sat Mar 3, 2018, 06:56 PM
Mar 2018

There is a certain snake in Florida (I believe it's called the Orange python) that consumes its weight in cheeseburgers. 239 lbs of Big Macs! It then sits on the toilet for days on end and tweets. Witnesses at several golf courses have attested to its ugly nature and rotund appearance. One woman who encountered the beast said she ran as fast as she could when the snake tried to attack her genitals.

GWC58

(2,678 posts)
22. You go to the head of the class
Sat Mar 3, 2018, 07:17 PM
Mar 2018

And I’m not saying that to be a smartass. The pythons are very creepy! We go to Florida once a year, in July, to Daytona Beach. Those things could turn up anywhere in Florida. Damn!

OhNo-Really

(3,985 posts)
21. Unemployed? Here's a job
Sat Mar 3, 2018, 07:16 PM
Mar 2018

Desperately wanted: PYTHON HUNTERS to tackle Florida's unwelcome intruder

Since Burmese pythons found their way into the wild in the 80s, they have decimated native wildlife. Now 150,000 could be lurking in the state’s waterways

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/mar/27/florida-burmese-python-hunters

Sounds like a great REALITY TV Plot. Let's make the wily hunters Democrats.

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