stupid snake...
Posted on 10/05/2005 7:19:09 PM PDT by ChristianDefender
The alligator has some foreign competition at the top of the Everglades food chain, and the results of the struggle are horror- movie messy.
A 13-foot Burmese python recently burst after it apparently tried to swallow a live, six-foot alligator whole, authorities said.
The incident has heightened biologists' fears that the nonnative snakes could threaten a host of other animal species in the Everglades.
"It means nothing in the Everglades is safe from pythons, a top-down predator," said Frank Mazzotti, a University of Florida wildlife professor.
Over the years, many pythons have been abandoned in the Everglades by pet owners.
The gory evidence of the latest gator-python encounter _ the fourth documented in the past three years _ was discovered and photographed last week by a helicopter pilot and wildlife researcher.
The snake was found with the gator's hindquarters protruding from its midsection. Mazzotti said the alligator may have clawed at the python's stomach as the snake tried to digest it.
In previous incidents, the alligator won or the battle was an apparent draw.
"There had been some hope that alligators can control Burmese pythons," Mazzotti said. "This indicates to me it's going to be an even draw. Sometimes alligators are going to win and sometimes the python will win."
It is unknown how many pythons are competing with the thousands of alligators in the Everglades, but at least 150 have been captured in the past two years, said Joe Wasilewski, a wildlife biologist and crocodile tracker.
Pythons could threaten many smaller species that conservationists are trying to protect, including other reptiles, otters, squirrels, woodstorks and sparrows, Mazzotti said.
Wasilewski said a 10- or 20-foot python also could pose a risk to an unwary human, especially a child. He added, however, "I don't think this is an imminent threat. This is not a `Be afraid, be very afraid' situation.'"
stupid snake...
Looks like a Gary Larson cartoon......
YIKES! Where did you find the pic?
Guess his eyes were bigger than his stomach...lol
Search is your friend
I always thought that the snakes killed their prey before eating--perhaps to avoid this type of occurence. Live critters moving around in a belly can't feel too good!
This statement doesn't make sense. I see one very dead snake. A snake that bursts while eating alligators is no threat to alligators.
I sure wouldn't want to come across one in the swamp, but even if the gator is dead, there's a lot more gators in the everglades than there are non native snakes.
. . . but yours is better. LOL!
So - which one of them was the lawyer?
You get used to it.
That's hilarious!!!
Thanks for the giggles!
The back legs of alligators can keep moving even after they're dead. The claws on its back feet could have very easily punctured the snake's belly and totally ripped it a new one.
Reminds me of the old Monty Python skit..."I can't eat another bite."
There are a ton of these things in Florida. I lived down in crazyland for 10 years - 80's and 90's - and it was fairly common for pythons to take refuge under houses and feast on local dogs. Heck, I tried to run over a 15 footer one night on the Golden Gate Parkway outside of Naples. Scary looking critters....but probably taste great
Did I hear someone say gumbo?
And now the Nile monitor lizard is showing up in peoples back yards.
"...but probably taste great."
Tastes like chicken.
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