Pythons in Florida are a problem, rather… a massive problem. These beasts have completely taken over the everglades to the point there’s hardly any prey left. They are fast and effective predators that have nothing hunting them out there. Because they are not natural to the area, this makes them invasive, meaning they outcompete and damage the ecosystem.
These pythons can be well over 20 feet long, and they utilize their massive size to constrict then eat their prey whole… and alligators will do. These beasts can weigh over 1,000 pounds and measure up to 12 feet long so more than enough food for a big snake. If the pythons are willing to try those prehistoric looking beasts, they will certainly get a good meal out of it.
These researchers are seen cutting open an 18-foot python captured in Florida, and the snake has a curiously large bulge in its belly. Clearly, something is in there. The researchers cut it open and find a whole 5-foot long alligator inside the snake.
That’s one wild predator to take out a gator like that. They summed up what was going on best in the post:
“The Burmese python is one of the largest snakes in the world (up to 20+ft). This particular python was roughly 18 ft, and had consumed a 5ft alligator.
*Burmese pythons are required to be euthanized in Florida. This python was euthanized by those who found it, and turned over to a research lab for necropsy and scientific sample collection. That process is shown in this video.
Due to the the subtropical environment of South Florida, paired with the Burmese pythons long life span and rapid reproduction, these snakes have successfully invaded ecologically sensitive areas such as Everglades National Park. This poses a threat to a variety of wildlife, due to the pythons wide dietary preferences.”
Yeesh…
Florida Teenager Catches 100-Pound, 15-Foot Python
Many people have hobbies that they enjoy outside of work, like hiking, golfing, scrapbooking (does anyone still do that?), and various other pastimes.
Now notice that I didn’t get super specific, because I left out “hobbies” that people in Florida like to do, which is usually doing random things to get arrested and create outlandish headlines, or like these people, wrestling with 15-foot snakes.
I’m not sure why you would choose to do something like this, but some people love the thrill of the hunt, and like to hunt very dangerous creatures. Jack Cronin, a Florida teenager, is one of those thrill-seeking people.
The state of Florida was putting on something called the “Python Challenge” (of course they were), and Cronin was participating in it for the very first time. He had caught snakes before, but had never encountered a python.
Python hunting had long been on his bucket list, and he finally got the chance to do it during his first ever trip to Everglades National Park over the weekend. Once they got there and started searching, things escalated pretty quickly when they set their eyes on a massive python.
Cronin told CBS4 Miami:
“We go over and there’s just a snake’s head sitting there, the size of my head. I shined the flashlight back through the woods to see the body and couldn’t even see the end of it. Then I’m like, of course, ‘I wanna jump on it.’
So I jumped on it, grabbed its head, then the thing went nuts and it turned into a wrestling match.”
I’m no expert on python hunting, but I would assume that you don’t want it to turn into a “wrestling match.” Cronin wouldn’t have known if he was doing it right or not, since he actually had never caught a python before:
“I was like ‘That’s a big snake.’ That was my first python I ever jumped on. I’ve caught little snakes, that was my first python I’d ever seen.”
The colossal snake measured in at 15 feet and 6 inches, and weighed almost 100 pounds. However, Cronin and his friends missed the official weigh in cut off for the Python Challenge by 5 hours, so the python capture didn’t even count.
Whether it counted or not for the Python Challenge didn’t really matter to the Florida teenager. He was just excited to have the bragging rights, and warned all pythons out there that he would be back:
“Man, it’s like an adrenaline rush like no other. We’ll definitely be back out there trying to get another big mama.”
Yeah, because after you have a brush with death with one of the largest snakes you’ve ever seen, you ought to get right back out there and try to do it bigger and better.
Some people are insane…
Burmese Pythons Are Bad News For Florida Panthers
I like to think of myself as fairly educated when it comes to wildlife matters, especially in the United States, but boy was I put in my place. I’m basically just another moron…
But before I started this blog, I read all about it… so now I’m back to being an expert on all things Florida wildlife. According to Conservancy of Southwest Florida, this 30-pound Burmese python swallowed a 35-pound fawn WHOLE.
Like, look at that thing… good Lord.
The invasive Burmese python can grow to about 20 feet and this SOB was only 11. A full-grown one could probably swallow me whole. Granted, I still haven’t worked off those extra holiday pounds, but that’s only because I haven’t really tried yet. When I finally get my summer body back, sometime in late October, a full grown Burmese python could definitely take a run at me.
More importantly though, these invasive Burmese pythons are decimating the small mammal population in Florida, which is destroying the main diet of Florida’s endangered panthers. Florida Panthers? Like, the hockey team?
No, not like the hockey team…
As a big hockey guy, I got to plead ignorance on this one.
I had no clue that the Florida panthers were based on real-life panthers that are an endangered species. How was I supposed to know that panthers are roaming the Everglades?
I never seen a Blackhawk in Chicago or a Bruin in Boston, so it only stands to reason that most pro hockey teams and their mascots are not scientifically connected to flora and fauna of the particular region. If that’s the case, maybe the Nashville Predators should follow suit and change their logo to Kirt Webster or something…
In summary, the Burmese python is an invasive little bugger that’s eating deer whole and ruining life for the already endangered Florida panthers, the animal, not the hockey team. The hockey team, led by captain Aleksander Barkov and the stellar goaltending of Sergei Bobrovsky, is doing pretty damn good.
Bambi, on the other hand, is not… the more you know.
