Snakes in the 'Glades

[marmar]

(Bloomberg) The meandering trail in the Everglades marshlands was made by alligators, I’m told, so be careful. There’s also poisonwood, fire ants and the recently added Burmese python.

“It’s really a very harsh place to work,” says Kristen M. Hart, a research ecologist for the U.S. Geological Survey and a close follower of the python, which has invaded the Everglades in startling numbers.

“We don’t know how many there are,” Hart says, “and that’s ultimately the question everyone wants to know.”

She reckons tens of thousands in the Everglades, but allows the number could be higher: “I think there could be more here now than in their native range” of Southeast Asia. ................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-03/pythons-swallow-whole-deer-in-florida-6-million-tab.html

[HereSince1628]

1. I'd be surprised if it was as low as tens of thousands...

each breeding female can lay up to 60 per clutch, and they reach sexual maturity in 2 years...

[2on2u]

2. Why, there's one now.... too big for my liking.

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2027&page=10

USA TODAY:
It sounded like a joke when the news first hit in 2000: Giant Burmese pythons were invading the Everglades. Now scientists have measured the real impact of the arrival of this voracious species, and the news is troubling.

South Florida Water Management District, via AP
Workers hold a nearly 16-foot-long Burmese python captured and killed in Everglades National Park, Fla., in October. The python had consumed a 76-pound adult female deer.

[RebelOne]

8. I have no problem with snakes, but that one is too big.

At one time, I had two boa constrictors as pets. I finally gave them to the Miami-Dade Community College hands-on lab for kids. They reached 7 feet long and I could no longer find enough rats or mice to feed them. Plus, I was able to deduct them as charitable deductions for tax purposes.

[2on2u]

10. A Floridian.... I know the area well... miss it too. WTF is up

with your real estate market down there... houses and lots seem seriously reduced in value. Unemployment must be part of the problem, but really.... houses seem to be valued at less than a third of what they once were.

[Rittermeister]

3. Not to betray my conservative upbringing

but in this situation, hunters might actually be able to do some good. Perhaps an unlimited bag limit on these non-native ecological disasters?

[quaker bill]

6. In fact that is exactly the case.

Pythons and feral hogs can be shot at anytime and in any number, anywhere in FL. A couple of friends in natural lands management keep a high powered rifle handy to perforate pigs as just part of the job, shoot them when you see them. Both are big problems here.

Green iguanas were becoming a big problem as well, but then we had a hard freeze pretty much down to the Keys a few years back. Iguanas don't survive freezes well. Pythons are slowed by freezes but since they are on the ground and in the water, they are fairly well protected down south of here.

We were having some problems locally with Nile monitor lizards getting into residential areas and munching people's cats and small dogs. But I think the freezes handled that as well.

Channeled apple snails and armored catfish are now becoming a local problem. The armored catfish is reportedly a south american delicacy so they may become less of a problem over time. The channeled apple snails get to be the size of a grapefruit, but unfortunately reportedly don't make good escargot, and they are too big and tough for the native limpkins and snail kites to make proper use of.

We have at least gotten the monkeys under control.

It is Florida.

[NV Whino]

9. Are you kidding?

The monkeys are running the show.

[ellenfl]

12. you got that right! eom

[quaker bill]

14. True

We managed local control by sending some of them to Tallahassee.

[xchrom]

4. Du rec. Nt

[Warpy]

5. With the unemployment situation there as bad as it is

you'd think some genius would offer a bounty on them based on size. I'm sure the swamp would be chockablock full of good ole boys hunting money with their beloved guns.

Then again the lege is overwhelmingly GOP this term so thinking about the obvious is beyond them.

[pinboy3niner]

7. I'm tired...

...of these MF'n snakes in these MF'n 'Glades!

[madinmaryland]

11. Snakes in the mother f***ing 'Glades! Whoda thunk!

[flvegan]

13. Hey, look...another area people fucked up!

Bought an animal or two, got too big or some other shiny object caught your attention, and you helped fuck up an ecosystem. Yay, humans!!!