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Yikes! Burmese pythons multiplying at a scary rate
By
Times wires
Posted: May 16, 2008 02:23 AM
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Everglades National Park Ranger Gary Landry holds the tail of a 10-foot Burmese python caught in the park.
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[Everglades National Park (2003)]
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The invasion of Burmese pythons in Florida appears to be expanding rapidly, with researchers estimating t here are 30,000 of the reptiles statewide.
The biggest concentrations are in the Everglades, though they have been found as far north as Manatee County, according to Frank Mazzotti, a University of Florida researcher who has been tracking the snakes since 2005.
“We need to do something so that five years from now, we’re not looking at an exponentially bigger population,” he said. “Females may store sperm, so they can produce fertile clutches for years. And a 100-something-pound snake can easily be producing 60, 80 eggs a year.”
Burmese pythons are likely to colonize anywhere alligators live, he said.
The best eradication strategy, he believes, is a focused effort to contain and reduce the population by tracking, capturing and euthanizing the reptiles.
From 2002 to 2005, there were 201 pythons found in the Everglades. In 2006-07, 418 were found. The largest ever found was 16 feet long and 152 pounds.
[Last modified: May 16, 2008 01:32 PM]
Comments on this article
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by Not Quite
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May 16, 2008 1:32 PM
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They can't just put a bounty on them, especially when they regularly sell for less than $100 at pet stores. We need to start seriously cracking down on their importation/sale.
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by Think
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May 16, 2008 9:36 AM
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Our Government will probably spend $10 Million Studying the problem. A bounty of $100 a snake will only cost $3 Million. They should do it now.
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