The python that’s eating Florida

[Panich52]

The python that’s eating Florida

by EarthSky in Videos » Earth, Human World, Science Wire

Burmese pythons were imported to Florida as pets. Now tens of thousands of them are in the wild and they’re eating … everything. New York Times video. (can't post vid)

South Florida wildlife officials have struggled for years with tens of thousands of Burmese pythons – imported to Florida as pets – that have taken up what looks like permanent residence in Everglades National Park and other areas of the state.

At full maturity, a Burmese python routinely reaches lengths of 12 feet or more. Twenty-footers weighing 250 pounds are not unheard-of. The pythons are prodigious breeders, with voracious appetites to match.

They are believed to have eaten their way through the Everglades, bringing about startling changes in the ecosystem. Some mammals native to those marshes, like foxes and rabbits, seem to have disappeared, researchers say. Other species — among them raccoons, deer, opossums and bobcats — are close to being wiped out.

More
http://earthsky.org/earth/the-python-thats-eating-florida?utm_source=EarthSky+News&utm_campaign=ecd87a4547-EarthSky_News&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c643945d79-ecd87a4547-393525109

[TexasProgresive]

1. Here I thought you meant Jeb and company. n/t

[Romeo.lima333]

2. eventually the pythons will eat all of their food and then the pythons will starve and die off just

like we humans will, then all those critters will return. or we could fiqure out how to make them tasty and start eating them.

[GeorgeGist]

3. This seems like a really good time ...

to start a snake/leather goods business in southern Florida. Opportunity abounds.

[safeinOhio]

4. McPython burgers

2 for 5 while they last.