Giant Snakes In The Everglades
Way Of The Ray
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Posted on Sun, Dec. 22, 2002
Invasion of the Everglades: Giant snakes have a new hangout
BY CURTIS MORGAN
cmo...@herald.com
This thing, this tremendous thing, swimming toward his boat deep in the
middle of mangrove nowhere just wasn't supposed to be there.
Daniel Cabarcos Jr. had gone looking for redfish and snook in a favorite
isolated Everglades haunt, cruising a maze of uncharted channels to a
tight and twisty creek. He found something else instead -- the latest,
and scariest, creature to invade the Everglades.
A very big Burmese python, from one of the largest species of snakes in
the world.
It slithered from some mangrove roots, head poking up like a scaly
pale-yellow periscope in the cola-colored water, body slicing ripples on
the glassy surface. Cabarcos, who has fished the back country for more
than 40 years, was stunned. He'd seen snakes swim before but nothing
like this, a reptile as long and thick as a cypress log.
''This thing was at least half the size of the boat.'' Ten, maybe 12
feet. ``The head was huge. I couldn't believe it.''
Myths of monster serpents lurking in the Everglades go way back. In his
landmark 1898 book Across the Everglades, explorer Hugh Willoughby
recorded tales of giant snakes that had been passed on through
generations of Indians. Those tall tales have now become unfortunate
reality in Everglades National Park -- and the pet trade is mostly to
blame.
Imported snakes such as boa constrictors and pythons, which kill by
literally squeezing the life out of prey, have been found in the park
since at least the 1980s. The snakes, probably abandoned pets, have
shown up often enough in the last year or two -- particularly Burmese
pythons -- that park biologist Skip Snow believes they are no longer
just surviving but thriving.
Biologists think most of them were illegally released by owners who no
longer wanted them or found them too big, and dangerous, to handle. The
state also estimates that some 1,000-plus captive snakes probably
escaped into the wild after Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
This year alone, a mower chopped a hefty one into pieces. Cars have
reduced a few to roadkill. Rangers have captured several others.
And they're no longer found just near park entrances or convenient
dumping points. They've shown up in assorted places -- and in assorted
sizes, from young two-footers to mature adults like the one Cabarcos
encountered a good 20 miles from the nearest road in Flamingo, the
park's southernmost outpost.
MAY BE BREEDING
No one has uncovered eggs yet, but Snow said all that evidence makes a
strong case that pythons have begun breeding, potentially establishing a
population that could pose a serious ecological threat.
The snake Cabarcos encountered amounted to a pipsqueak, relatively
speaking. The Burmese python commonly reaches 20 feet and nearly 200
pounds, topping out at around 26 feet. But George Dalrymple, a Homestead
biologist and reptile expert, and other biologists believe the 'Glades
snakes pose minimal threat to humans. Certainly no more than alligators,
diamondback rattlers or any other Everglades predator.
Despite their fearsome reputation, pythons won't be stalking tourists
and anglers and yanking them off boardwalks or boats, said Joe
Wasilewski, a Homestead biologist and veteran snake handler who once
wrangled a 20-footer out from under a Kendall home. They're more likely
to avoid people unless someone stumbles across them, perhaps eliciting a
reaction strike, he said.
''I'd stake my reputation that they're not going to be chasing people,''
he said.
The biggest concern is the same one biologists have about dozens of
exotic animals, plants, insects and fish that have crept into the
Glades. The snakes certainly munch native wildlife, anything from
rodents to birds to deer, and may be competing for food with other
predators like the rare indigo snake. But unlike other invading species,
Snow said there's nothing in the Everglades known to prey on pythons,
particularly larger ones.
The snakes remain scarce -- ''They aren't lined up on the road or
anything,'' Snow said -- but sightings have grown frequent enough that
the park has just begun a formal assessment of the python problem and
intends to issue exotic snake alert fliers to visitors.
''The interesting thing about these snakes is they do adapt to a fairly
wide range of habitat conditions,'' Snow said. ``What we will probably
find is that they're quite capable of making a go at it.''
GOOD SURVIVORS
They're adept climbers and swimmers, capable of staying under water as
long as a half-hour. And while they prefer dry land, vital for laying
eggs, some have shown what Dalrymple called a ``a remarkable adaptation
that may give them a leg up.''
The snakes lay eggs, as many as 100, then wrap themselves around the
clutch, regularly constricting their bodies to keep the incubating brood
warm and dry.
Still, Dalrymple isn't convinced they're breeding in the Glades. He
hasn't seen enough young ones. And Wasilewski suspects that a serious
cold snap might kill many -- as it does some exotic fish species.
Snow's biggest concern is that other snake owners will hear about the
pythons in the Everglades and add to the population. Besides being
illegal, it's a bad idea, he says. If the snake is caught, as many are,
it will wind up dead.
For now, rangers are taking any snakes they capture to the Everglades
Outpost, a wildlife rehab center in Homestead. Outpost director Albert
Killian has several he's fattening up -- to serve his king cobras, which
eat the big snakes in the wild.
''For me, it's like giving them their natural food,'' he said.
Since sighting the python, Cabarcos has added snake hunting to his
weekly outings into Whitewater Bay and points farther north. The Miami
high-tech executive is still laughing at his reaction to the big snake.
He was so shocked he let go of the wheel and dove into the cabin to grab
a camera. The boat promptly drifted into the mangroves in the narrow
channel and the snake disappeared into a tangle of mangroves.
''I'm gonna find that damned thing,'' he said, ``and maybe next time
I'll jump on it.''