Record Florida 17-foot 7-inch, 164-pound Python Carrying 87 Eggs

[BornToHuntAndFish]

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."

 

[Jeff C.]

Amazed at the size of those eggs!!

 

[shakey gizzard]

Classic example of how a non native invasive species can run amuck!

 

[Budda]

I can see purdy boots being made outta that snake.

 

[patchestc]

looks like the gators would gobble 'em up.... no contest.

apparently not the case.

 

[JohnnyWalker]

looks like the gators would gobble 'em up.... no contest.

apparently not the case.

Just the opposite is true, they are eating the gators and probably the armadillos too.

 

[papachaz]

the people who buy these for pets and then decide they don't want them, take them and turn them loose in the everglades. somebody gets caught doin that they should be horse whupped.....

 

[lbzdually]

They should let the locals hunt them and sell the skins, maybe even a $50 bounty per snake brought in. The problem would be solved quickly.

 

[Maggie Dog]

They should let the locals hunt them and sell the skins, maybe even a $50 bounty per snake brought in. The problem would be solved quickly.

X2, Problem Solved.

 

[patchestc]

that might make a dent in it, but i doubt it would solve the problem.
ever flown over the everglades?? HUGE!

 

[Re-tired]

Hurricane Andrew

the people who buy these for pets and then decide they don't want them, take them and turn them loose in the everglades. somebody gets caught doin that they should be horse whupped.....

True, alot of people just let them go if they don't want to bother with them, but when the hurricane hit down there they said thousands from private owners and comercial stores lost them and they hatch like rabbits.

 

[Nicodemus]

Chances are, south Florida is stuck with em forever now. Be hard to get rid of all of em.

 

[lbzdually]

that might make a dent in it, but i doubt it would solve the problem.
ever flown over the everglades?? HUGE!

It would thin them out and give native animals a chance to recover. There are some mean tropical lizards down there too, running wild.

 

[grouper throat]

Seems like a boot maker would offer up a bounty on the bigger ones. I'd like to have a Glades python pair myself.

 

[BornToHuntAndFish]

Chances are, south Florida is stuck with em forever now. Be hard to get rid of all of em.

Yep, you're probably right about that & I added a news item in Post #1 that supports this with now an estimated Python population anywhere from 30,000 to 100,000 in South Florida.

What a voracious appetite & consuming machine Pythons can be, with 87-eggs or over 7-dozen eggs swallowed is a good example as in the 1st news story.

 

[Gadget]

That record has been broken three times in the last year, should be up over 20ft before long. They're here to stay along with the dozens of other exotics in South Florida.

 

[swamp hunter]

And THAT is why I wear Snake Leggings.... : )
Ain,t no 20 Footer gonna get Me in the Calf.

 

[irishredneck]

Speaking of non-native species..I wish someone would bring some anteaters up here and let them loose in my yard.

 

[Budda]

Speaking of non-native species..I wish someone would bring some anteaters up here and let them loose in my yard.

Why would you need a anteater if you got a dog with a tongue like that

 

[blood on the ground]

looks like the gators would gobble 'em up.... no contest.

apparently not the case.

thats what i thought

Chances are, south Florida is stuck with em forever now. Be hard to get rid of all of em.

your right

And THAT is why I wear Snake Leggings.... : )
Ain,t no 20 Footer gonna get Me in the Calf.

how about in the neck!

Speaking of non-native species..I wish someone would bring some anteaters up here and let them loose in my yard.

gas will get em