Florida Python Population Explodes, Spreads Across South Florida

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

B​urmese pythons have been lurking in the Florida everglades for years.

But new research from the U.S. Geological Survey shows just how quickly the wild python population has exploded — and how far the snakes have spread.

Burmese pythons are an invasive species that ambushes their prey, are elusive to trappers and may be genetically adapting to cooler temperatures than are usual in South Florida, according to the paper published in January.

-snip-

More than 10,000 Burmese pythons have been captured in Florida in the past five years.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/florida-python-population-explodes-spreads-across-south-florida/ar-AA18kDAK

[GreenWave]

1. Maybe call them Democratic pythons?

Let the Trumpsters there take turns rassling with them.

[cos dem]

2. Maybe one will find its way to the Gov mansion

It can have a nice meatball snack.

[2naSalit]

5. +1

[sinkingfeeling]

3. I think snakes go well with DeSantis.

[TheRealNorth]

11. Well, he's trying to remake FL as some sort of MAGA, "Garden of Eden."

Last edited Wed Mar 8, 2023, 01:42 AM - Edit history (1)

Should be no surprise it's being overrun with snakes.

[Farmer-Rick]

4. I didn't read your headline correctly

And was hoping for a story about exploding pythons. Exploding all over South Florida.

[2naSalit]

6. Could this be the...

Florida version of the wicked witch's flying monkeys?

[TheRealNorth]

7. I was thinking more along the lines of the "Plagues of Egypt"

Not that Right Wing Christians ever see natural disasters as evidence of their wickedness.

[2naSalit]

9. Yeah...

Plagues of Egypt is good.

I could see that.

[cyclonefence]

8. This is a heart-breaking story

My husband and I used to visit the Everglades at least once a year, marveling at the rich animal life that thrived there. Then the pythons took over--no more deer, no more raccoons, no more possums, even fewer alligators and turtles. I don't know what's to be done. FL even hired python hunters from Burma to come and try to kill them, but the environment is just too perfect for them, and they have taken over the wilderness, eradicating native species at an alarming rate.

A trashy TV show, "Swamp People," sometimes features python hunters, and while those guys catch a lot of snakes, their rates of reproduction will never allow them to be wiped out.

The invasive pythons came from people who had pythons as pets who released them into the wild when they grew too big to keep at home.

[Phoenix61]

12. A lot of them came when pet stores were flattened by

Hurricane Andrew. The reality is the state has done very little to get rid of them. They have an annual rodeo that is a couple of weeks and has a grand prize of $10,000. It’s March and the dates for the 2023 rodeo haven’t even been announced yet. Florida pays $10 or $15 per hour, depending on the area, up to 10hrs a day to catch them. That’s it. This really is a situation money can fix. Considering that Florida has been perfectly willing to let the Everglades be polluted I’m not the least bit surprised they are willing to lose all native animals. Hell, that could be their end game. Wait until there’s nothing alive in there except the snakes then fill the whole thing in and put condos there.

[cyclonefence]

13. Even worse than I thought

We could see the difference in wildlife from year to year just walking through the Everglades on the tourist boardwalk. How stupid to let this priceless environment die before our eyes when money could fix it.

[hunter]

10. More stuff we can't stuff back into the box and return to sender.