![]() ![]() The agency, Feeney adds, has been actively “dealing with invasive pythons for over a decade.” “It could be tens of thousands, or it could be hundreds of thousands,” says Rory Feeney, the bureau chief of land resources at the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD)-a federal agency that helps spearhead Everglades conservation efforts. And the mottled brown snakes blend well into the scrubby environment. Today, authorities have no idea how many pythons occupy the area, in large part because the Everglades-in their vast inaccessibility-are so hard to conduct surveys in. It was during that storm that a python breeding facility was destroyed, releasing countless snakes into the nearby swamps. But most experts believe the pythons established a reproducing population in the Everglades sometime after Hurricane Andrew-a category 5 storm that devastated the state in August 1992. When the exotic pet trade boomed in the 1980s, Miami became host to thousands of such snakes.īecause pythons can grow to such unmanageable sizes, it was inevitable that some irresponsible owners would release the snakes into the wild. Native to Southeast Asia, pythons were first brought to the United States as exotic pets. How the Burmese python took over FloridaĪ young Burmese Python in Homestead, Florida. It’s hard to fathom that downtown Miami sits just 30 miles away from the vast wetlands that have become an adopted home for (at least) tens of thousands of huge snakes.īecause female pythons can lay 50-100 eggs per year-and the creatures have no natural predator in the region-their threat continues to escalate. Save for a few bisecting roadways (US 41 and I-75), these desolate subtropical swamps are detached from the grid of American civilization. That ecosystem, the Florida Everglades, commands some 1.5 million acres-or about one-and-a-half times the size of Rhode Island. These massive snakes, which can grow to 20 feet long or more, with telephone-pole-sized girths, have all but decimated the region’s small- and medium-sized mammal population, wreaking havoc with the area’s ecosystem. Natalie Neysa Alund covers trending news for USA TODAY.Starting in the 1980s, the swamps of the South Florida Everglades have been overrun by one of the most damaging invasive species the region has ever seen: the Burmese python. It will stay at the facility under the Florida Wildlife Commission’s Class III License which permits legal possession of non-domesticated animals. “We are putting this girl on a diet, she’s already a meany so I’m sure she is gonna get even meaner when she’s hungry,” Taylor Stanberry wrote in a reply on Facebook. The snake, at risk in the wild because it cannot camouflage due to its lack of pigmentation, was taken to the couple's facility where they learned it was a female. “She is very defensive,” Rhett Stanburry said. ![]() The video shows Rhett Stanberry carefully pick up the big girl from her tail end and put her in a wheelbarrow. “He’s so fat he can’t get away,” Taylor Stanberry added. ![]() “That is the fattest boa constrictor I’ve ever seen.” “I almost didn’t think it was real,” Rhett Stanberry said in the YouTube video. "Well they contact us again the following day and sent a photo of a big white snake in their yard!" "Honestly we did not take it too seriously since people misidentify snakes all the time and since they hadn’t seen it in a couple hours, we did not go look for it," Taylor posted. Pythons, often brought to into Florida as pets and then abandoned in the wild by their owners, are invasive in Florida. Since 2000, more than 17,000 wild Burmese pythons have been removed from Florida – including more than 200 this year in as part of an annual contest. ![]() "When we get there, we are greeted by this HUGE Albino (snow?) Boa Constrictor! This Boa was just as defensive as a wild Burmese Python, who knows how long it's been out there eating bunnies (and probably cats)." "You NEVER know what you will find in South Florida!" Rhett Stanbury posted on Facebook. Watch Video: Big albino boa constrictor mistaken for a python in Florida backyardĪ couple of snake wranglers got a big surprise last week when they went to investigate a serpent slithering through a Florida homeowners backyard.Ī Naples homeowner originally contacted Rhett and Taylor Stanberry about a "huge python" in the backyard, according to the Stanberrys' social media accounts.īut when the couple got to the scene, they found something else in the grass: A 9-foot 5-inch long, 52.6 pound albino boa constrictor. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |