Florida's Python Problem

June 14, 2006 -- -- With hurricane season underway, and alligators on the rampage, and sharks looking for lunch, does Florida really need Burmese pythons?

No way, says wildlife ecologist Frank Mazzotti of the University of Florida in Gainesville. But these non-native snakes have found a home in Everglades National Park, and their numbers are growing dramatically.

Although elusive by nature, these giant snakes have been seen doing battle with alligators, climbing trees fast enough to catch nesting chicks and swallowing animals as large as wood storks.

And they can be particularly hazardous on the highways. Any motorist could lose control when suddenly confronted by a reptile that can grow to 20 feet long and weigh up to 200 pounds.

It's a major invasion by an ambush predator with an enormous appetite, says Mazzotti, who is leading a multi-agency effort to bring the population explosion under control. But it's going to be tough, if it's even possible.

At this point, no one even knows exactly how many pythons are in the Everglades.

"There's no credible estimate," says Mazzotti. "But 95 were removed from Everglades National Park in 2005, without a deliberate effort to catch them. And if you catch 10 percent of a population you usually think you've done astoundingly well.

"There are lots out there. It could easily be in the thousands."

And here's the root of the problem: Young Burmese pythons can be bought at flea markets and pet stores throughout South Florida for about $20, Mazzotti says, and they are a hot item.

But they don't stay young for long, and they don't stay small. In time, they become too much to handle as pets.

"You have to regularly kill large animals, like rabbits, to feed it, and it can grow to 200 pounds, and it defecates like a horse," Mazzotti says.

So what do the owners do? They release them into the swamps, where they go forth and multiply.

Scientists from several institutions, including the National Park Service, have joined Mazzotti's team in hopes of controlling, if not eradicating, the python population. But that's pretty hard when it's uncertain how many are out there and where they hang out.