Massive 16-foot python with nest of 50 eggs removed from Florida Everglades

https://www.foxnews.com/science/python-nest-eggs-florida-everglades-removed

I keep seeing shows where they catch the bastards. Why don't they just kill them?

They did. From the article:

“assisted in the capture and destruction of the snake and its nest.”

Sounds good - thanks for the info. (I am not good with links.)

Easy way to rid Floriduh of these pests is to prohibit liberals consumption of any food other than python for 3 months. Or maybe a couple years?

i always ask the chicks if they want to see my copperhead.

Glad they caught it!

Yep.your midget copperhead. Quit sending pics.

Why not do a controlled burn series in the Everglades? Four legged critters and birds will move out pretty quickly. Swamp will regenerate. Are we going to lose some animals, yes. If not very dramatic action, python predators will wipe them all out. Serially kill all those big devils and regain control.

lol

Man that would make several pairs of cowboy boots.
That would be a good money maker I would think.
Good on them for killing it.

It's more fun to go out and collect them..



I have some friends that have quite a collection, their licensed and do a roadside show in the Glades.

Albino Python, kid friendly..sorta


Green Boa


Rainbow Boa



Chicks like big snakes


Anaconda

African Rock Python...,some times they die...




I use my artifacts, great fleshing tool, didn't want to cut the thin skin.

That’s one heck of a bad ass belt right there... er... several bad as belts I should say!

On this web site I find it hard to believe that this thread is now up to two pages without a snide remark about Colt revolvers.

Are you sure it wasn't a rat snake?

LOOK OUT THERE’S A GIANT TIGER BEHIND YOU

Outlaw all pythons including pets. Then put a bounty on them. Kill the ones caught.

My red ear slider turtles got sent to a political re-education camp a couple years ago.




State of Montana Fish and Game said that they were going to live on a farm in Texas.........

Invasive species - Aliens on earth.

When people buy these huge snakes their the size of a pencil and grow to where they can eat you. Safe handling requires 1 adult per 4’. When they get huge people let them free.

OK, I'll scratch my last 25 years of experience and run with that.....

I have thought about that myself but these things would probably slither off and hide where it was safe. I believe the indians as a matter of routine did controlled burns in the everglades at one time. JeffA would know the answer to this .

The Glades burn on a pretty regular basis, natural and man made control burns. I've never heard any mention as to the burns having effect on the reptiles or any other species that call the Glades home.

Ya gotta remember, the Glades is mostly water...

Going to be a battle removing them if it can even be done at all.

The snakes will not be eradicated, they're here to stay.

I have my doubts you could come to the Glades for a week or two or even longer and even get a chance to see one in the wild. Their numbers are up there and growing but the Glades cover a huge area like 1.5 million acres.
A lot of media hype is involved whenever a single snake is captured or killed.

I've wandered all over these swamps at times in waist deep water for miles and never seen a invasive snake by chance.
Seen plenty of native snakes, which can be of a lot more concern due to being venomous.
The invasive species we have messed with were first brought to our attention via a phone call and report of where one had been spotted so it could be captured.

Lot's of things out there to photograph other than snakes....







These little guys are sorta invasive

Jeff, you got a lot of nerve wading through those swamps! I'd be scared of running into a pack of moccasins!

You boys can have all the swampland you want. I'll take mountains and streams. But it is interesting that America has such diverse geography and lifestyles and yet we all unite as Americans.

Fingerling?

You eat those things Jeff? I think you meant venomous, rather than poisionous.

Word Nazi at work......

And that's the #1 little bi tch we run into. That is what the sticks are for, to flip them outta the way.



You gotta stay alert, the problem is that the canopy is so dense that all the trees grow fast, skinny and tall in attempt to reach the sun. So there is a lot of 30 to 40ft thin dead fall that's underwater. You step on the fat end and the tiny little top pop's outta the water 30 ft away and looks just like a snakes head...Keeps ya on your toes.....






Huh? Where? LOL I went brain dead and was hacking the spelling so took an alternative route...fixed it..thanks...

And to think I was startled by a yard long bull snake as I reached to turn on a lawn faucet yesterday. Can't imagine rounding the corner and running into one out weighing me.

They can keep their snakes and swamps....

for years, the state decided to protect the reptiles and 'study' them. You could go out into the 'glades an catch them, but they had to be turned over to the State. Recently it's more of a 'kill on sight' thing, but years too late.

50 eggs in 1 snake. Take 1000 snakes with 50 each and in just 1 hatch, you have a whole crapload of snakes. There's no way they'll ever clean them out.

Yes. There were 12 fires just last week all going at the same time.

Because they'll need a series of med's after exposure?

+1

Unfortunately Georgia isn't learning by Florida's example. They have recently discovered an area populated by tegu lizards and the Georgia DNR's reaction is to study it.

No telling what is out there right now and there are few things being done to keep Georgia from following the path taken by Florida. This snake track was found on the road to my shop. It is between 6 and 7 inches wide. We have a university in town that has around 20,000 students and a pet store that sells several different types of pythons and lizards. No telling what has already been released in the area.

No disrespect, chlinstructor. Good story. But, I always have to laugh when people call Ron Bergeron an "Everglades Conservationist".

He's the biggest developer in south FL and has been for years. While most developers are often dripping with law-breaking activity, Bergeron is probably among the most ethical of the bunch.

Still, calling him an "Everglades Conservationist" kinda makes me chuckle.

His Payloaders and Caterpillars have mowed down a chitload of hammock, mangrove estuary, Florida pine, and oak. And, displaced a 100 mi long trainload of indigenous species.

Being the Federal Government is heavily involved with management of most all the Everglades region, it's gonna be f'd up forever, there is no hope.

It's my humble opinion that the best way to control invasive species is to import their natural predators from their region of origin. I know it sounds ironic importing additional invasive animals to control another but really it's not, if your gonna have one you might as well have the other...

I don't care to see packs of wild Hyenas (natural predator of the python) roaming south Florida but there are others, and of course we are doing our best to eradicate the very animals that might help control these snakes..

Little things may surprise some of you, the invasive "Fire Ant" hammers on snake eggs, even the flooding doesn't stop them. When the Glades receive "hurricane floods" you can see huge rafts of fire ants drifting along looking for high ground, these snakes lay their eggs on high ground, bingo, the ants find a refuge from the flood and dinner all at the same time on the available high ground.

Of course our government has been doing their best to control this invasive ant...go figure..

In years gone by they have poisoned them from the air now they have introduced the ants natural predator, the "Phorid fly", they first introduced this fly to Florida a couple decades ago and now it's been introduced in Texas. They are pretty cool and successful with their tactics:

The phorid fly uses the injection stinger on its rear end to squirt an egg into the shoulder joint of a fire ant. That encounter lasts for about 1/60th of a second.

If the phorid fly succeeds, the egg develops into a maggot, which wiggles up into the ant’s head. After a couple of days, the maggot will start to feast upon the ant’s head tissues.
The fly will release an enzyme that will cause the ant’s head to fall off. The head will act as a capsule for the fly for another two weeks, after which the fly will exit the ant’s mouth.

It all sounds good but the Fire Ants haven't appeared to put a dent in the Alligator population and they lay their eggs in high and dry locations too.

The ants can't do it alone, especially with our federal tax dollars pouring into programs to defeat the ant.

Feral pigs can be a strong and viscous predator when it comes to snakes.

I've hunted pigs in the NW region of the Glades, I saw their numbers growing in a huge form over a 25 year period. I'm unsure if the state or Federal government were directly involved with a eradication or control program for them other than offering a hunting season.

Then it all went to hell.

The introduction of Texas Cougar's to the Everglades through strongly tax funded Federal and State programs coincidentally eliminated these feral pigs from every area I ever hunted in the Glades.

As the Texas Cougar (local pretend name "Florida Panther" but no such species actually exist) population grew the local pig population totally vanished. I see zero sign of pigs in the areas I frequent but I do see Cougar tracts in all these areas which were never seen prior to the reintroduction.

This is never spoken of but may be the very reason the snake population has exploded in recent years.
The timing of the events is spot on...

So, like I said, with the Federal Government's management tactics involved, we're f'd...get use to the snakes.

The way congress manages our public lands, I won't be surprised when they put PETA in charge of it all.

Jeff, you make some good points there, but ask Australia how it's doing with those cane toads and Hawai'i how it likes mongoose.

Those are just two examples of introducing a "natural predators from their region of origin" into an area with a population of invasives.

The case of the phorid flies for the ants might be a bit different as those flies might be obligate parasites and if and when the ants were eliminated the flies would die out with no hosts to continue their life cycle. Or, worst case scenario, they evolve/adapt to another host, perhaps a beneficial insect we'd likely miss.

My take, the snakes are likely here to stay. Along with the iguanas, cheat grass, kudzu, "wild" horses and burros, and........................


ALIENS!

Just jokin' about the last critter.

(or not!)

Geno

I was wondering how a swamp burn worked....

There will always be a down side, I was actually thinking Mongoose but know nothing of them other than they will kill a snake really fast.

I do really believe the decimation of the Feral Pigs in the areas I frequent has had to contribute in the growth of the Python numbers.

Maybe a few Honey Badgers would be effective? They are really badassed.:-)

Laughing!

Nice read , Thank You.

Yep, downsides.

Mongoose? Florida? You like the wild turkeys down there? Alligators? All those birds that winter down there? They'll eat smaller snakes for sure, rats too, then they'll eat everything else they can get except large prey.

Killing off the feral swine in your area likely did allow for some population increase, but there are real wild pigs where those things come from so they're likely somewhat adapted to them.

Honey Badgers! Cool Idea!

Geno

We need something that eats Democrats!

Democrats eat democrats. We'll send you ours.

May those who release invasive species, ANY INVASIVE suffer terminal crotch rot!

Here...wait... whaa???
I don't mean it like that!

You know they screw other Democrats too, that's why there's so many.

It's all about keeping the numbers in check, I think the Feral Pigs may have been keeping many of the invasive snakes from becoming mature adults. It takes some years to grow a 10 to 15 foot snake.

I was kinda kidding about the Honey Badgers, there has to be a huge downside to having a critter around as wicked and mean as they are....but damn, they'd be fun to observe in action..

Wanna take bets OAC is eating Rashida Tlaib for dessert tonight?

That video is a lot better with the volume muted and closed captions on...