Typical Florida activity.
I think we need to rethink the nickname of “Sunshine State.” The fact that Florida gets a lot of sunshine is just as obvious as the fact that the state is overrun by pythons, or even worse: Disney adults. Calling Florida by a nickname that’s Vitamin-D positive seems to be giving it too much credit… at least in my mind.
What should it be nicknamed? I think the “Burmese Python State” has a nice ring to it. Maybe even the “Mickey Mouse” or the “We Have Harry Potter World” state. There are plenty of other, more specific options to choose from. Much like the deceased python in the video below, I’m just floating ideas out there.
I’ll get off my Florida soapbox to start talking about this wild video out of southern state, which shows a smaller alligator parading around a massive, dead-as-a-doorknob Burmese python. The large snakes are basically the definition of invasive species. Ever since they were accidentally introduced to Florida in the 1970s and 1980s, they’ve been a huge thorn in the side of the state’s natural ecosystem.
That’s why the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission hosts a Florida Python Challenge every year. Since the large reptiles pose a threat to the native wildlife of the state, the FWC encourages residents to go into the Everglades and kill as many as they can (such a Florida thing to do). Whoever kills the most has historically been awarded a grand prize of $10,000.
As crazy as that whole thing sounds, it’s necessary to keep the ever-and-rapidly-expanding Burmese python population as low as possible. Female pythons can lay around 50 to 100 eggs at one time, so more and more of the invasive species are almost always being born into an ecosystem in which they don’t belong. That’s why since the year 2000, it’s estimated that more than 13,000 Burmese pythons have been removed from the Everglades.
And you can move that number up to at least 13,001 thanks to this alligator doing its part.
There’s a scenario where this smaller gator and the larger python had a battle for the ages. We’ve seen examples of it on video before. When an alligator and a python face off, there’s no holds barred, and there’s no rules in the fight for survival. However, since the python looks pretty bloated, the more likely scenario in this particular situation is that this gator discovered this python after it had already died.
The video was filmed in Florida’s Everglades National Park by tour guide Kelly Alvarez from the Shark Valley Observation Tower, and it may be one of the biggest they’ve ever seen:
“The record for longest python found in the Florida Everglades is 19 feet. Given that this alligator is minimum 10 feet, though I estimate him to be more around 12 feet, this python being twice his size is now quite possibly the longest Burmese python ever found in Everglades National Park.”
But not before it could drag the corpse of the python around the Florida Everglades, just to let everyone know who was boss:
🐊 🐍
“Video taken November 28, 2024
This is one of the most incredible sights I’ve witnessed while working in Everglades National Park.
A massive 12-foot alligator in the Shark Valley loop is seen dragging an invasive Burmese python, estimated to be at least twice its size.… pic.twitter.com/auc1VTK02y
— PitunisWorld 🌎 (@ScMesab) December 2, 2024
Good for that alligator for acting tough and dragging that thing around – even if it wasn’t the one responsible for the Burmese python’s demise.
