Follow up on Pythons in Everglades

I thought this would be good to mention, after we talked in class about these snakes and learning how when they eat, their body's grow even more. This is where this story talks about. Snakes like the Pythons are growing larger that they are eating bigger mammals. Mammals such as Raccoons, opossums, bobcats and other mammals that live in the Everglades. Sightings of medium size mammals are down as much as 99%, in the areas that is known to where the pythons and other non-native large constrictor snakes. If this keeps goings, soon a lot of the mammals in the Everglades will be devoured by these snakes, and in their place will be the non-native large and human threatening snakes. This would be hurting the food-chain and disrupt the Everglades.

The python that was found is the Burmese python, known to be located in the Southeast of Asia. It is believed that they are living in the Everglades. Facts about the Burmese python is that it can grow to be 26 feet long and weight more than 200 pounds. They swallow animals as large as an alligator, how they kill their prey is by coiling around the it and suffocating it. With their large long body and strength, killing their prey is easy.

2003 to 2011, researcher drove 39,000 miles along the Everglades-area and counted the wildlife along the way. Gathering results and comparing it to the survey conducted on the same route back in 1996-1997. The declining in animal sightings: a drop of 99.3% among raccoons, 98.9% for opossums, 94.1% for white-tailed deer and 87.5% for bobcats. in 1996-1997, rabbits and foxes were commonly spotted, then they were not seen in the later counts. There was the slight increase in coyotes, Florida Panthers, rodents and other mammals. There is no real evidence yet as to if the pythons are the ones that causes the decrease with the mammals in the Everglades, but they are the number one suspect.




 In the video that we watched on these snakes, it was pointed out that if these snakes start eating larger animals, then who is to say that we might be next on their food chain. You never know when one of these snakes might slither in your backyard. Instead of some cases where (depending on where you live in Florida) some family's might see a crocodile or an alligator  in their backyard, it might end up being a snake knowing that you are its next meal. That is a scary thing to think about, but Florida residents must stay clear of these snakes, if they happen to come close to where you live.






http://www.mysuncoast.com/content/topstories/story/Pythons-apparently-wiping-out-Everglades-mammals/cqGc0Tu5b02hEt2QceXMcw.cspx