Can an animal receive a Darwin award?
Posted on 10/07/2005 10:14:39 AM PDT by Termite_Commander
MIAMI (AP) -- 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.'''
FReepmail me to be added or removed to the ECO-PING list!
A little off topic but worth a quick read!!
i can't really tell which is which or where one begins and the other ends
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1497132/posts
130+ comments
MIAMI -- A python's eyes were apparently bigger than its stomach. Scientists in Florida are puzzling over a Burmese python that scarfed down a six-foot alligator before its stomach ruptured. They found the carcasses in an isolated part of Florida's Everglades National Park. Photos show the gator's hind legs and tail sticking out of the 13-foot snake's ruptured gut. The Miami Herald reported that scientists can't figure out how the snake got the critter down. The snake's head is also missing. Experts say the clash is interesting, but it also shows the exotic snakes are competing with gators to top the food chain in the Everglades. Park biologist Skip Snow said he's documented 156 python captures in the last two years.
LATE ping :)
Did the gator die before he was swallowed? or die he when the snake exploded? or is the gator alive?
Maybe the gator was stangled, this is very nasty and unbelievable.
I would think the hard gator scales would be hard for snake to swallow.
So what happened to the Gator?
I felt the same way after I ate at a Miami Chili's.
I would like to know what happened to the Gator?????
This is why selling snakes, gators, parrots(ruin agriculture) and other exotic nontraditional house hold pets is a stupid idea.
Too many ignorant people out there who never think about how big these critters can and will get, then they turn them all loose into the wild or suburbs because they can no longer afford to feed and care for them properly. Then our taxes increase to hire more animal control people and build facilities to deal with this mess.
The Peter Principle! Humans are becoming too stupid for their own good.
Me neither. That's just a nasty looking picture altogether.
Burp!
I want to know what happened to the snake's head?
The Gator ate the snake head.
But did the gator die in the snake? or was he strangled? or is he alive? guess no one knows.
the gator probably suffocated inside the snakes body.
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