Ready for man-eating pythons in Georgia?

They would prove interesting, I wonder if they are good to eat? It would be nice to get about four or five hides, make a snake skin jacket.

It is doubtful that Burmese Pythons can survive in GA. Florida is just trying to get the couple billion in funds to solve the problem that THEY let get out of hand. They had a ferel animal that was protected by law because of its location and did nothing for 20 years. Now they are feeding the media frenzy to capitalize on people's fear of snakes by using fraudulant terms such as "Man Eating".

Most Burms only get to around 12' or so which is not as large as it sounds. They are also very susceptible to respiratory infections which makes it unlikely they can survive a GA winter.

And here is the kicker. They keep blaming irresponsible pet owners releasing their animals. But DNA testing on the ones they have captured shows that they all came from a single original group that escaped from a GOVERNMENT funded research facility during one of the hurricanes.

Now that being said, I have captured several Burms in the Atlanta area that were escaped pets. Some people should not keep a pet rock, much less an exotic animal. But I have never found one brumating in north GA to indicate it could fare the winter.

Exotic Pet owners and Firearm owners face alot of the same media bias, misinformation, and constant legislative battles. Being on both fronts, it seems like all I do is call representatives.

B W Smith
Animal South
www.animalsouth.com

Last year there was an 8 foot one that escaped in Avondale Estates, where my mother lives.

Took over a 12 ga. for each door until it was found (and it was).

A burmese python might be able to survive a year or two in extreme south Georgia......maybe. I doubt if they could do well enough to proliferate and become a real issue in Georgia. As BW said, they are very susceptible to RI. The first good solid frost would probably do them in....not immediately, it would take a month or so for them to die, but it would very likely kill them.

South Florida is a different story.

Man-eater is, as BW pointed out, a fraudulent moniker....a very large python (a, 18 footer or better) might be able to actually eat a very small woman or a child, but not a normal sized man. Make no mistake, though....a large Burmese python is absolutely capable of killing a man. I have kept and worked with some of the most venomous snakes on the planet, the big constrictors scare me much more than any mamba, cobra, taipan, or other fast elapid. The venomous snake will bite you and release....you can secure it, grab up your AV and go to the ER and probably survive. If you get wrapped up by a 200 lb python and you are alone, you are in serious jeapordy. You probably will not be able to get loose by yourself. The idea that they have lots of little tiny teeth is erroneous. They have lots of 1/2" or longer recurved needle-sharp teeth...they work like a couple of hundred fish hooks.

A big python is nothing to fool around with.

germag said:

Man-eater is, as BW pointed out, a fraudulent moniker....a very large python (a, 18 footer or better) might be able to actually eat a very small woman or a child, but not a normal sized man. Make no mistake, though....a large Burmese python is absolutely capable of killing a man. I have kept and worked with some of the most venomous snakes on the planet, the big constrictors scare me much more than any mamba, cobra, taipan, or other fast elapid. The venomous snake will bite you and release....you can secure it, grab up your AV and go to the ER and probably survive. If you get wrapped up by a 200 lb python and you are alone, you are in serious jeapordy. You probably will not be able to get loose by yourself. The idea that they have lots of little tiny teeth is erroneous. They have lots of 1/2" or longer recurved needle-sharp teeth...they work like a couple of hundred fish hooks.

A big python is nothing to fool around with.

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Just to add to this...from what I've read and seen, Burmese pythons are much more docile than Reticulated pythons. I've had a Burmese for 8 years now and other than being "nippy" (that's what the pet store guy called it when I bought it) when I first bought her due to not having been handled, I've never had any problems. Don't take me to mean that pythons are like dogs and come to love and know their owner...but the Burmese that are in captivity and handled regularly seldom attack. All that I've read about Reticulated pythons says that they're much more aggressive by nature...not to mention they get a good deal larger.

Regardless of the breed though...snakes aren't pets for everybody. They're unpredictable and not the smartest...so potentially very dangerous. If you're smart about keeping them (some might say that's an oxymoron) and smart with how you handle them, it's all good.

ChiefOsceola said:

Just to add to this...from what I've read and seen, Burmese pythons are much more docile than Reticulated pythons. I've had a Burmese for 8 years now and other than being "nippy" (that's what the pet store guy called it when I bought it) when I first bought her due to not having been handled, I've never had any problems. Don't take me to mean that pythons are like dogs and come to love and know their owner...but the Burmese that are in captivity and handled regularly seldom attack. All that I've read about Reticulated pythons says that they're much more aggressive by nature...not to mention they get a good deal larger.

Regardless of the breed though...snakes aren't pets for everybody. They're unpredictable and not the smartest...so potentially very dangerous. If you're smart about keeping them (some might say that's an oxymoron) and smart with how you handle them, it's all good.

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Most times when someone gets bad bite from a captive Burmese, it's a feeding response bite.

germag said:

A burmese python might be able to survive a year or two in extreme south Georgia......maybe. I doubt if they could do well enough to proliferate and become a real issue in Georgia. As BW said, they are very susceptible to RI. The first good solid frost would probably do them in....not immediately, it would take a month or so for them to die, but it would very likely kill them.

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I guess we'll have to wait until next Spring to see how the python experiment turns out. For some reason I assumed it was taking place closer to the coast but the Lab is in Aiken, SC about 20-30 miles from Augusta. Plenty far enough North to get some cold weather.

Backlasher82 said:

I guess we'll have to wait until next Spring to see how the python experiment turns out. For some reason I assumed it was taking place closer to the coast but the Lab is in Aiken, SC about 20-30 miles from Augusta. Plenty far enough North to get some cold weather.

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Guess so.....

re

Now that would be a fun day of snake hunting (not hunting to kill) go out to herp a few rat snakes and king snakes andcome home with a 6' python!

Its sad to see there are people that think the solution is to go out and kill them all just because they are not native to out country...speaking of getting rid of non native things in this country we should post up in Texas

It's not just because they aren't native wildlife, although that's reason enough, they are seriously out of control and overpopulating the Everglades and threatening the native wildlife.
Kill 'em all.

jeff8600 said:

Now that would be a fun day of snake hunting (not hunting to kill) go out to herp a few rat snakes and king snakes andcome home with a 6' python!

Its sad to see there are people that think the solution is to go out and kill them all just because they are not native to out country...speaking of getting rid of non native things in this country we should post up in Texas

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Well, what else are you going to do with them? Put them back into the pet trade? That's what caused the problem to start with. Zoos don't want them....and I can tell you for sure that a bunch of burmese pythons, is way, way down on the list of things I'd ever want.

Python

Originally Posted by jeff8600
Now that would be a fun day of snake hunting (not hunting to kill) go out to herp a few rat snakes and king snakes andcome home with a 6' python!

Its sad to see there are people that think the solution is to go out and kill them all just because they are not native to out country...speaking of getting rid of non native things in this country we should post up in Texas

What would be "sad to see" is a python with a key deer or a wood stork in it's belly.
Hopefully, the pythons are not here to stay, but, regretfully, it appears they are.
Invasive species are a huge problem and your "fun day of snake hunting" will be less and less successful as the pythons take over.

Regards,
Mr. Fishunt