African Rock Pythons Also in Everglades
One benefit of the organized hunting of giant snakes going on in the Everglades and surrounding areas is that we are learning more about the extent of the problem. The three-day state coordinated hunt that began recently has turned up at least five African rock pythons, generating fears that another large contrictor has established itself in South Florida. The catch included one 14-foot long female.
This is yet another argument for eliminating or restricting the ownership of potentially invasive reptiles, particularly in areas where there is great risk of purposeful or accidental release. The rock python can eat a wide range of native willdife and is apparently even more aggressive than the Burmese python. Eradication or control of these destructive invasive species could cost U.S. taxpayers millions of dollars.
Hi,
The problem with python is Florida are probably hyped quite a deal by local and national media. According to many python snake experts the problem is not 10% of what is described in newspapers etc. Read more at python snake dot org
Best regards
Anders Nielsen
Anders: Not according to the USGS, USFWS, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and others. I saw two of these snakes myself in the Everglades last time I was there. These reptiles are highly fecund and have already spread north to the Arthur R. Mitchell Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge and south to the Florida Keys. Hyped a bit, perhaps, especially with regard to the danger to humans. However, time will tell and these snakes do pose a documented threat to our native wildlife–one was recently found eating an endangered Key Largo woodrat that had a transmitter on it. Let’s hope that the control programs are successful in eradicating these potentially destructive invasives. If there are as few as you say there are, perhaps eradication will be easier than everyone thinks. But then again, I doubt it.