Posted on 09/14/2009 11:51:51 AM PDT by JoeProBono
Already squeezed by the invasion of the giant Burmese python, Florida now faces what one scientist calls one of the U.S. state's "worst nightmares."
Africa's largest snake—the ill-tempered, 20-foot-long (6.1-meter-long) African rock python—is colonizing the U.S. state, new discoveries suggest.
Six African rock pythons have been found in Florida since 2002. More troubling, a pregnant female and two hatchlings have been found, which means the aggressive reptiles have set up house.
More dangerous than even Burmese pythons—which are known to eat alligators (alligator-python picture)—the African pythons are "so mean, they come out of the egg striking," said Kenneth Krysko, senior herpetologist at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville.
"This is just one vicious animal."
So far the giant snakes have been found only in a single square mile (2.6 square kilometers) of suburban area west of Miami. Pet breeders unprepared for the pythons' ferocity may have released them, Krysko said.
What's "really scary" is that the new invaders only have to cross the road to enter Everglades National Park, where Burmese pythons have already eaten thousands of native animals, he said.
With the addition of the rock python, Florida is now an established home-away-from-home for three large alien constrictors—including the Burmese species and the boa constrictor—according to wildlife biologist Robert Reed, who studies invasive reptiles for the U.S. Geological Survey in Fort Collins, Colorado....
(Excerpt) Read more at news.nationalgeographic.com ...
They caught a python in Pensacola about ten years ago and gave it back to the guy who owned it. About a month later it got loose again. They entered his house and found out that he had cobras. That’s all we need. A bunch of King Cobras crawling around Florida.
They get about 15% bigger and meaner with each further state west you go.
Great... a snake in Fla that eats alligators?! I wonder how the spandex wearing, pointy helmet greeny bike riders are going to react to one of these things?... Pepper spray? :-)
Proof of Gay Pythons?????
Judge for yourself. Here's what one of their skulls looks like:
They bypass Louisiana for fear of being mugged and eaten.
How far apart were the wires?
Couldn’t happen to a nicer state.....having said that, there is not a measuring device devised by man that could measure the decibels coming out of my mouth if I came upon one of those.
No, because they are in this country illegally.
-————>........................................................... <—
Tastes like chicken.
;>)
LOL!
undocumented reptiles?
Easier said than done, just ask a squirrel.......
“...there is not a measuring device devised by man that could measure the decibels coming out of my mouth if I came upon one of those.”
LOL!!! Me either! I didn’t realize how much I hated snakes until I saw some of these pictures. Yikes!!!
Boots, handbags, belts? Don’t know what you’d do with all that snake meat (ugh).
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.