Posted on 03/20/2015 8:16:22 AM PDT by C19fan
Everglades National Park, a world-renowned wetland in southern Florida, once abounded with rabbits, raccoons, muskrats, and other small mammals. But roughly 15 years ago, these species started to become scarce. About the same time, biologists noticed a boom in the population of a predator that had invaded the 64,238-hectare park: the Burmese python. Now, an experiment adds to the evidence that the pythons, which grow up to 5 meters long, are to blame for the collapse of the mammals' populations.
Theres no question that this is an environmental disaster, says J. D. Willson of the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, who was not involved in the study.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.sciencemag.org ...
Sounds like Jimma.
Yep! That’s what we have, Swamp Rabbits. They have holes where they nest in my flower beds on the edge of a ravine. My dogs chase them but my dogs are getting old now and they don’t catch them anymore.
There’s also a giant African snail. It wrecks houses but even more importantly obliterates native snails, which causes a problem for the Everglade snail kite, a bird that eats only native snails.
Your right ,it was somewhat sad, my daughter was young then and she would hide her eyes because she didn’t want to see them.
Don’t know. And I think the type used was a generic version of Tylenol. Would assume the snake species doesn’t matter.
http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/animals/africansnail.shtml
http://www.invasive.org/browse/subthumb.cfm?sub=7130&start=1
You ever seen the Everglades?
A friend of mine regularly took his out to a lake near Homestead. One day she got away.
They’re putting transmitters in females and finding males in breeding season with them.
I’m sure Hazel was sorry and didn’t mean any disrespect Lol
Hazel didn’t give a rats azz but I am still laughing about it!
“Still a pretty/hansome snake.”
As snakes go
“You ever seen the Everglades?”
Don’t know about the party you ask the question but I have many hours bass fishing and hunting in the everglades. Lived in Naples for about 25 years and went to the Everglades quite often. While out there I use to wonder if I would ever reach a point where I would boast about my trips in the glades, here I m going back in my old memories and digging out some pretty good thoughts.
FR has more ways of rewarding you than you can believe.
Make python boots the rage and they’ll be hunted to extinction. Hey, how about python skin Air Jordans?
There have been bounties offered for the Burms... here’s the problem. Every year, fewer and fewer Burmese pythons are captured... They’re dying off as well.
Let’s look at this scientifically for a minute. An adult Burmese python 10+ feet long will eat about one every 3 to 6 weeks. Let’s make the math simple and call it one meal a month. That’s 12 meals a year per adult snake. Do you realize how many animals it would take to make a dent in the fauna population in the Everglades? The Burms do not have those numbers and never will... out of a clutch of 60 eggs, less than 3 usually survive to adult hood because they are prey to far too many animals. This holds true even in the Everglades.
So, what then is causing the die off? Simple. Look where the petition to put Burms on the Lacey Act came from and look at the money where it’s coming from and going. The cause is man made and it’s Florida’s dirty little secret. Look at the water management in the area and who runs it, then look at who petitioned FWS for the Lacey Act stuff and look at the money flow.
On top of that, look at the illegal dumping of toxic chemicals in the region and ask why Florida is doing so little about it.
Burms are an invasive species but they have minimal impact due to their metabolism. For every 100 animals a Burm kills and eats, a cat will have killed thousands. Cats are a much more significant threat to the Everglades than any snake will ever be.
Hate the snakes all you want, they are not the issue here. They are being used as a scape goat to protect someone from going to jail. Unless the assault on the Burms stops and the real issue is addressed soon, the Everglades and every animal in there, including the Burmese python, will be gone.
Also, wouldn’t the pythons be useful in keeping the rodent population in check? I don’t consider the snakes as “varmints”, rather as varmint eaters.
Extinction is the norm.
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