Florida's rangers battle invasion of the giant pythons
Pastor Dale Morgan
*Florida's rangers battle invasion of the giant pythons*
Paul Harris in New York
Sunday July 29, 2007
The Observer
The Everglades stretch for hundreds of swampy miles across south
Florida, home to hordes of snakes, alligators and assorted
creepy-crawlies. But now an invasion by deadly giant pythons is
threatening the eco-system of the famous park.
The pythons, thought to have been released into the wild by careless pet
owners, are no ordinary snakes. They are Burmese pythons, native to
South Asia, which can grow 6m long, weigh 100kg and live for 20 years or
more.
The pythons have established breeding pairs in the swamps and are racing
to the top of the food chain, even ousting alligators that were the
Everglades' top predator. Two years ago a photographer snapped a picture
that appeared to show a python so big it had eaten an alligator whole.
'It is a very serious issue, especially as we have found breeding pairs
and clutches of eggs. That means they have adapted to living here and
they are having a big impact,' said Linda Friar, an official at
Everglades National Park. The snakes are a serious threat to indigenous
wildlife due to their big appetites. The stomach contents of every
python caught by rangers usually reveals a feast of rare birds and small
mammals. Sometimes it also shows that the snakes have been snacking on
household pets.
The park has embarked on a major effort to curb the snakes' numbers, but
total eradication would be difficult. 'We think we can slow down their
rate of increase,' said Friar. At the moment there are an estimated 350
pythons in the park, but many more in the swamps outside. Rangers
estimate that, for every python they spot, 10 lie hidden in the marshes.
Park rangers, in their efforts to catch the elusive snakes, have a
specially trained sniffer dog - nicknamed 'Python Pete'. They have also
used so-called 'Judas animals' by tagging female pythons with electronic
signalling devices. The females then lead rangers to populations of male
pythons, which the rangers can kill.
Although some of the snakes may have escaped into the wild in the
aftermath of the hurricanes that regularly damage large swaths of
Florida, most are thought to be simply released by owners who did not
bargain on their baby pythons growing to be quite so big.
As a result, Florida is now embarking on a legal crackdown on its
citizens owning exotic snakes. A new law will force owners of pythons
and other snakes such as anacondas to get a special licence and insert
an identifying microchip under the snake's skin. Inspectors will visit
owners' houses to ensure they are suitable for a snake throughout its
life. 'They will take the Everglades over if we don't do something about
it,' said Bill Posey, the state senator who sponsored the new legislation.
A whole host of other exotic pets have escaped into the Florida
wilderness, such as feral goats, iguanas, walking catfish and coyotes.
However, the biggest menaces from so-called 'invasive species' do not
have four legs or slither: plants from suburban gardens are busy
supplanting native species. An estimated two million acres of the swamp
are now covered by invading plants. 'They don't create quite the same
headlines as pythons, but plants are the invaders who actually make up
the biggest threat,' said Friar.