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There is some evidence that the "ying-yangs" may not be the only ones responsible for letting them loose. The hurricane that wiped out Homestead may have also released them from the zoo. There were a number of other animals that got loose when the zoo was damaged, and not all the snakes were recovered.
It's not just pythons A couple of months ago, animal planet did a piece on people that were bitten by poisonous snakes. A resident of Miami was working in his back yard and was bitten by a slender green snake. It turned out to be a Green African Mamba. The hope is that it is the only one and will not be able to reproduce.
Pythons, in the wild, seem to be interbreeding as well. A Burmese Python is huge. A Rock Python is very aggressive. Mix the two and you have a very aggressive, huge snake. Again, if you watch Animal Planet, Swamp Wars, you'll be able to see the guys that are always catching pythons around the Miami area.
While they seem to be most heavily concentrated in the southeast part of Florida, they have been found pythons north of Orlando, along the gulf coast areas. Unchecked, they are expected to spread as far north as Tennessee, and eventually all southern states. Currently, snakes kept as pets are required to have microchips. I would hate to have them find a snake, with a microchip registered to me, in the wild. I don't know what the fine is, and I don't expect to find out the hard way. I do not have any snakes.
But, it's not just pythons. There are also Nile Monitor Lizards and a species of rat that grows quite large that have been imported and released. All are considered "invasive".
I've heard the same thing, that the numbers started exploding a few years after Andrew leveled snake farms in southern Florida in 92.
No one knows for sure how they got loose, but they are here, and there is no doubt that they will keep growing populations now that we know they are breeding in the wild and having their own babies.
Sorry. I'm not clear on what you think is shameful and a national disgrace?
The government not acting on it years ago?
Personally, I think what is shameful and a national disgrace are the clueless ying-yangs who were personally irresponsible and dumped their snakes into an eco system that was never meant to support them.
You mean like Jimmy Carter importing Kudzo (sp?) to fight erosion in Georgia?
I think one of the main issues is that many native species are being decimated.
There goes the ecosystem.
Yah this. I live in GA and the predictions is these snakes will make their way north, not a plesant thought. We already have a huge coyote problem (non-native to GA) that has run rampent on the native wild life of wild turkey and foxes and other wild life.
You mean like Jimmy Carter importing Kudzo (sp?) to fight erosion in Georgia?
You were saying?
Kudzu - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Kudzu was introduced from Japan into the United States at the Japanese pavilion in the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia.[23] It is now common along roadsides and other undisturbed areas throughout most of the southeastern United States. Kudzu has been spreading at the rate of 150,000 acres (61,000 ha) annually.[26]
The Amazing Story of Kudzu During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the Soil Conservation Service promoted kudzu for erosion control. Hundreds of young men were given work planting kudzu through the Civilian Conservation Corps. Farmers were paid as much as eight dollars an acre as incentive to plant fields of the vines in the 1940s.
It is way too late to play politics or point fingers. The pythons are a wildlife management problem, not a political one. These snakes have almost rendered raccoons to become extinct in the Glades and have taken a huge toll on possums, foxes, and bobcats, as well as rodents, deer, and even small gators. About the only thing big and tough enough to be safe from a big one is a Florida panther or adult gator. Killing as many as possible on the spot and destroying eggs whenever a nest is found is the only practical solution, and even then will never be able to completely eradicate them. Paying a bounty would be a help. More than a few out of work Floridians might then consider being part or full time snake hunters.
It is way too late to play politics or point fingers. The pythons are a wildlife management problem, not a political one. These snakes have almost rendered raccoons to become extinct in the Glades and have taken a huge toll on possums, foxes, and bobcats, as well as rodents, deer, and even small gators. About the only thing big and tough enough to be safe from a big one is a Florida panther or adult gator. Killing as many as possible on the spot and destroying eggs whenever a nest is found is the only practical solution, and even then will never be able to completely eradicate them. Paying a bounty would be a help. More than a few out of work Floridians might then consider being part or full time snake hunters.
Yah this. I live in GA and the predictions is these snakes will make their way north, not a plesant thought. We already have a huge coyote problem (non-native to GA) that has run rampent on the native wild life of wild turkey and foxes and other wild life.
let's not forget FIREANTS either
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, not a plesant thought. We already have a huge coyote problem (non-native to GA) that has run rampent on the native wild life of wild turkey and foxes and other wild life.
