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Report: 5 foreign snake species threaten US
Associated Press ^ | Oct 16, 2009 | TAMARA LUSH

Posted on 10/16/2009 4:18:02 PM PDT by george76

Watch out, animals of South Florida: It's a wild world out there. There are five species of foreign snakes just waiting to eat you.

More troublingly, according to a U.S. Geological Survey report released Tuesday, nonnative snakes like the Burmese python could slither their way north from the warm, humid conditions of South Florida.

The big snakes threaten native species and ecosystems because they mature and reproduce quickly, travel long distances and can eat almost anything in fur, feathers or scales, experts say.

The 302-page report could be a step toward a ban on importing constrictor-like snakes into the U.S., said Ken Warren, spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's South Florida office. The FWC will now evaluate the report and seek public comment before recommending such a ban.

"In many aspects, the report confirms what we already knew: that these snakes are a problem and that they do pose some risk," Warren said.

The report analyzed nine kinds of snakes. Five - Burmese pythons, northern and southern African pythons, boa constrictors and yellow anacondas - are of "high risk" to the ecosystems of the U.S., especially in Florida.

Four others - the reticulated python, Deschauensee's anaconda, green anaconda and Beni anaconda - are considered medium risk to ecosystems.

Scientists are already studying where Burmese pythons can survive in the U.S. Seven are being studied in a natural enclosure in South Carolina to see if the tropical natives can live through colder winters.

The number of invasive pythons in South Florida and throughout Everglades National Park has exploded in the past decade to potentially tens of thousands, though wildlife officials aren't sure exactly how many are out there.

In July, an 8-foot pet python strangled a toddler in Central Florida.

(Excerpt) Read more at krdo.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; US: Florida; US: Georgia; US: Mississippi; US: South Carolina
KEYWORDS: anacondas; boaconstrictors; burmesepythons; pythons; snakes

1 posted on 10/16/2009 4:18:02 PM PDT by george76
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To: george76

I don’t see the Kenyan Moneysucker on that list of deadly snakes.


2 posted on 10/16/2009 4:20:16 PM PDT by reg45 (Be calm everyone. The idiot children are in charge!)
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To: george76

like australia and it frogs


3 posted on 10/16/2009 4:22:16 PM PDT by SF_Redux
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To: george76

Are they on the planes?


4 posted on 10/16/2009 4:24:15 PM PDT by Old Sarge (Marking Time On The Government's Dime)
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To: george76

Which reminds me...I need to get rid of my Bushmaster and black Mamba collection....;-D


5 posted on 10/16/2009 4:26:11 PM PDT by Ruy Dias de Bivar (You talkin' ta me? YOU TALKIN TO ME! Well just who are you talkin' to?)
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To: reg45
I don’t see the Kenyan Moneysucker on that list

You beat me to it.

ML/NJ

6 posted on 10/16/2009 4:29:39 PM PDT by ml/nj
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To: george76

Just eating the critters American snakes won’t eat. Celebrate diversity!


7 posted on 10/16/2009 4:32:11 PM PDT by omega4412
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To: george76

Whatcha need is recipes, an open season, and maps of where they live. That’ll clean ‘er right up!


8 posted on 10/16/2009 4:34:16 PM PDT by Uncle Miltie (President Obama got the Nobel Prize and my ass is still sitting in Afghanistan. Its not fair. - G.I.)
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To: george76
Oh. You meant those kinds of snakes. I thought this was another article about congress.
9 posted on 10/16/2009 4:37:45 PM PDT by MizSterious (Do you not think an angel rides in the whirlwind and directs this storm? John Page, 1744-1808)
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To: george76

hmmm. Interesting title.


10 posted on 10/16/2009 4:45:49 PM PDT by SaraJohnson
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To: MizSterious
I thought this was another article about congress.

The man said snakes, FRiend, not @ssholes!

11 posted on 10/16/2009 4:53:09 PM PDT by clee1 (We use 43 muscles to frown, 17 to smile, and 2 to pull a trigger. I'm lazy and I'm tired of smiling.)
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To: Uncle Miltie

Those big snakes taste good.


12 posted on 10/16/2009 4:56:40 PM PDT by ASA Vet (Iran should have ceased to exist Nov 5, 1979, but we had no president then either.)
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To: george76

Sounds perfect for the manufacture of what some people call manly footwear!


13 posted on 10/16/2009 5:50:52 PM PDT by tsomer
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To: george76

On the plus side, seems like a good way to solve the nutria problem in the Gulf states. Nothing like one imported pest to deal with another imported pest.


14 posted on 10/16/2009 5:59:46 PM PDT by dorothy ("Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who do not." ~ Thomas Jefferson)
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To: george76

BRB, gotta go grind a fresh edge on my machete.


15 posted on 10/16/2009 9:49:38 PM PDT by Mike-o-Matic
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