Posted by Kent Staubus on October 30, 2011 at 10:25 AM
If the thing was big enough to catch a deer, it's just a matter of time until one of them snatches a person. It will probably be a nature photographer who gets more than they bargained for. Florida needs to relax their law so the things can be shot on sight.
Kent, I can't agree that the solution to things we don't like is to "shoot it on sight". Has a human ever been injured by one of these snakes? There are far more injuries and deaths from alligators - why not kill all of them, too? And the couigars? And the bears in the Everglades? And why not spray and kill all the umcomfortable bugs? and whatever else is simply being itself and looking for a meal ?
Sandy
The fear around here is that the pythons are propagating at an alarming speed, and in the process reducing the food supply for indigenous animals. Also, because they show little fear of civilization not much prevents them from moving in to where our kids and pets live. A meal is a meal.
I don't think anyone would hesitate to kill any creature that threatens life and limb.
Posted by Kent Staubus on October 30, 2011 at 1:36 PM
Sandy--
The snakes have no natural predators as they are an invasive species. Slowly but surely, they will destroy all the native species in Florida, along with a number of people. They are a catastrophe for the wildlife there that hasn't evolved to cope with them. As they continue to grow in size, it's just a matter of time before they start eating people too. There are some things that just need shootin'.
Kent in SD
Posted by Basil Greber on October 30, 2011 at 2:13 PM
Shooting the snakes or not, I guess the real issue are the people importing and liberating this kind of fauna in a place where it's not supposed to be. No?
Posted by Kent Staubus on October 30, 2011 at 2:33 PM
Yes, Basil, I agree. Ultimately it's the fault of irresponsible people. However, the snakes are there and have begun destroying the wildlife of southern Florida. The question now is do we allow a rich and unique biome to be destroyed, or do we allow responsible people to intervene? It's no longer an academic question.
Kent in SD
Posted by Basil Greber on October 30, 2011 at 4:48 PM
Kent, No natural predators? You're saying all the herons, egrets, raptors, jays, kites, alligators, fish and things that normally eat snakes, do not eat small pythons?
And you believe the pythons will kill all natural species in the Everglades?
Sandy
Posted by Brian Gatlin on October 31, 2011 at 11:54 AM
No, Sandy, no natural predators for a snake that is often illegally released as a 10+ foot adult. The ecological threat these snakes pose is not made-up and is well-documented.
Many things will eat the hatchlings, which come out at around 18" but they have the possibility of growing 4 feet a year and are sexually mature at around 9 feet. And then a clutch of 40 eggs gets us to the problem we are currently at. Fortunately the unusually cold winters we had the last 2 years seems to have done a number on the population that was somewhere between 15-100,000 snakes.
Discussion
10 repliesKent in SD
Sandy
I don't think anyone would hesitate to kill any creature that threatens life and limb.
The snakes have no natural predators as they are an invasive species. Slowly but surely, they will destroy all the native species in Florida, along with a number of people. They are a catastrophe for the wildlife there that hasn't evolved to cope with them. As they continue to grow in size, it's just a matter of time before they start eating people too. There are some things that just need shootin'.
Kent in SD
Kent in SD
And you believe the pythons will kill all natural species in the Everglades?
Sandy
http://www.nps.gov/ever/naturescience/burmesepython.htm
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/06/0603_040603_invasivespecies.html