BornToHuntAndFish
Senior Member
Yikes! Florida sure has some whopper predators.
In case you have not heard much about Florida's new record length Burmese Python carrying a new record of 87 eggs . . .
http://www.livescience.com/22315-largest-burmese-python-everglades.html
Holy Herpetology! Burmese Python Found With Record 87 Eggs
13 August 2012
http://news.yahoo.com/holy-herpetology-burmese-python-found-record-87-eggs-193035561.html
Holy Herpetology! Burmese Python Found With Record 87 Eggs
16 hrs ago
"At 17 feet, 7 inches (5.3 meters) in length, it is the largest snake of its kind found in the state and it was carrying a record 87 eggs."
"This record-breaking, 164.5-pound (75-kg) specimen found in Everglades National Park had feathers in its belly that will be identified by museum ornithologists, the researchers said. Research published this year suggested the pythons are not only eating the Everglades' birds but they're also snatching, and likely swallowing whole birds' eggs."
"Previous state records for Burmese pythons found in the wild were 16.8 feet (5.1 meters) long and 85 eggs"
"Now, you can go out to the Everglades nearly any day of the week and find a Burmese python. We've found 14 in a single day."
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/08/13/17-foot-long-burmese-python-caught-in-everglades/
17-foot-long Burmese python caught in Everglades
August 14, 2012
"In and around Everglades National Park alone, some 1,825 Burmese pythons were found between 2000 and 2011."
"A 17½-foot snake could eat anything it wants," Krysko said.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/...ython-caught-everglades-16997541#.UCo8qz1lQTY
17-Foot-Long Burmese Python Caught in Everglades
August 14, 2012
"The snakes kill their prey by coiling around it and suffocating it. They have been known to swallow animals as large as deer and alligators."
"Tens of thousands of Burmese pythons are believed to be living in the Everglades"
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/nati...w-largest-python-ever-found-everglades/55733/
Scientists Show Off the Largest Python Ever Found in the Everglades
"A study from earlier this year showed that rabbits, foxes, raccoons, and several other small animal species had been virtually wiped out within the Everglades. Without some way of capturing and/or controlling the snake population, they could destroy the entire animal ecosystem of South Florida and may find their way to other parts of the United States."
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2012/01/pythons-are-wiping-out-mammals-everglades/48075/
Pythons Are Wiping Out Mammals in the Everglades
JAN 31, 2012
"the number raccoon and possums spotted in the Everglades has dropped more than 98%, bobcat sightings are down 87%, and rabbits and foxes have not been seen at all in years."
"Biologists say that with anywhere from 30,000 to 100,000 snakes now on the loose, it's impossible to wipe out the pythons entirely"
http://www.usgs.gov/blogs/features/...mmals-in-everglades-national-park/?from=title
The Big Squeeze: Pythons and Mammals in Everglades National Park
Formerly Common Mammals Decline Precipitously
FEBRUARY 6, 2012
"The university and federal scientists who conducted the study found that the most severe declines in mammals appear to have occurred in the remote southernmost regions of the park, where pythons have been established the longest. In this area, observations of raccoons dropped 99.3 percent, opossums 98.9 percent and bobcats 87.5 percent. Marsh and cottontail rabbits, as well as foxes, were not seen at all in recent years, despite having been present in the 1990s."
http://www.bio.davidson.edu/people/midorcas/research/Pythons/Python.htm
Research on Invasive Burmese Pythons in Everglades National Park and the Southeastern United States
"The Burmese python (Python molurus bivittatus) is a large constricting snake native to Southeast Asia that can reach a length of more than 20 feet. They are long-lived (15 – 35 years), a behavioral, habitat, and dietary generalist, capable of producing clutches of up to 100 eggs"
"Currently, estimates of population sizes range from 30,000 to over 100,000 snakes."
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