# Site General > General Herp > Herp Broadcast >  Africanized Pythons... really??

## xdeus

Yes people, now we're in danger of gentle Burmese pythons in Florida getting "Africanized" by Rock Pythons.  Which, incidentally, have been known to eat people.  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):   Of course they don't cite sources... you'll just have to take their word on it.

Must be a slow news day.

Link to article.

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## redpython

well the burmese populations aren't turning out to be as big as they thought, so they move onto the next hysteria.

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## h00blah

theres so many grammatical typos LOL i hope nobody takes it seriously

i couldnt. thats for sure. LMAO it just all sounds really REALLY dumb

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## TheLaughingDemon

I live in South Florida, I've seen burms on the side of the road dead before. One thing I'm a little perplexed out is: why only burms? Retics and boas pose the same risks of getting dumped into the lakes due to being too big or aggressive.... maybe burms are just cursed.  :Sad: 

Either way, people are very stupid and gullible and they'd rather listen to the flashy "MAN EATING SNAKE ON THE LOOSE!!!!!" article than "It was the owner's fault for letting them loose in the first place, the animals have no reason to be hated"

but then we responsible , informed herpers are grouped into the stereotypes of the idiots who don't know what they're doing and only want big snakes to impress people and look cool. It's a no win situation, baby!

And that is the end of my rant. Tune in on sunday, 10/pm eastern to see me complain about something else!  :Very Happy:

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## Shawn

well if you think of it when the import and export companies got wacked by hurricane Andrew there were more than just burms , rocks and boa's let loose. funny how you dont hear about the rest of the species that got loose back then. but then again no one fears the little things they cant see or do they?

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## blackcrystal22

> I live in South Florida, I've seen burms on the side of the road dead before. *One thing I'm a little perplexed out is: why only burms? Retics and boas pose the same risks of getting dumped into the lakes due to being too big or aggressive....* maybe burms are just cursed. 
> 
> Either way, people are very stupid and gullible and they'd rather listen to the flashy "MAN EATING SNAKE ON THE LOOSE!!!!!" article than "It was the owner's fault for letting them loose in the first place, the animals have no reason to be hated"
> 
> but then we responsible , informed herpers are grouped into the stereotypes of the idiots who don't know what they're doing and only want big snakes to impress people and look cool. It's a no win situation, baby!
> 
> And that is the end of my rant. Tune in on sunday, 10/pm eastern to see me complain about something else!


They do not, however, have the same chances of surviving. Burms are doing so well because the Everglades match their home climate so closely, boas and other python species don't like the high humidity and wetlands of the everglades or southern-Florida as much.

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## Brewster320

One problem I see with the artice is that from what I've read on "Cateaters" (rock x burm) is that they are infact smaller than either parent species(males 7-9ft and 20-40lbs, females 10-12ft and 40-60lbs) and are docile in temperment so the idea of a giant super aggressive monster just doesn't hold up..

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## Vypyrz

> I live in South Florida, I've seen burms on the side of the road dead before. One thing I'm a little perplexed out is: why only burms? Retics and boas pose the same risks of getting dumped into the lakes due to being too big or aggressive.... maybe burms are just cursed.


I think most people can't tell the difference between the snakes so eveything is a Burm. The same reason people refer to all soft drinks as Cokes, or all facial tissues are called Kleenex, or all cotton swabs are called Q-tips... meh

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## Wh00h0069

> One problem I see with the artice is that from what I've read on "Cateaters" (rock x burm) is that they are infact smaller than either parent species(males 7-9ft and 20-40lbs, females 10-12ft and 40-60lbs) and are docile in temperment so the idea of a giant super aggressive monster just doesn't hold up..


I'm pretty sure their called bateaters not cateaters.

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## redpython

> They do not, however, have the same chances of surviving. Burms are doing so well because the Everglades match their home climate so closely, boas and other python species don't like the high humidity and wetlands of the everglades or southern-Florida as much.


i think this is crazy talk, south florida offers the perfect habitat for retics and boas and all kinds of habitat.

What people don't get is even if they are breeding in the wild, their chances of making it to adult hood are pretty slim with all of the predators around.

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## WingedWolfPsion

Consider the source, folks..consider the source. <lol>

The burm/rock crosses are cateaters, by the way.  Bateaters are retic/burm crosses.

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## Vypyrz

> This summer, Florida began a python bounty hunt after the population of illegally introduced Burmese pythons exploded and their range expanded. So far, 18 snakes have been captured under the new hunt, which got approval from the US Department of Interior after a toddler was killed by a released python this spring.


Only 18... Where do you suppose the other 149,982 are hiding? What would they even call the hybrid? Afriburm? Or, would they simply apply the word "Killer" like they did with the bees?...


Rob

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## Denial

I dont agree with the article at all. First off hybrids have low fertility and its almost impossible to get them to breed in captivity ive heard of all kinds of tricks to try to get them to breed but usually if you just throw in two together its not going to happen. Secondly african rock pythons are not evil monsters they come out of the egg striking because they are a foot long and we are HUGE. I would come out striking also. I have seen numerous "tame" African rock pythons.

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## xdeus

I'm surprised they just didn't include this pic in the article.  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):   Seriously, though... I wonder what journalist genius made the jump from africanized bees to africanized snakes?   :Sigh2:

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## Vypyrz

> I'm surprised they just didn't include this pic in the article.   Seriously, though... I wonder what journalist genius made the jump from africanized bees to africanized snakes?


I suspect there are more sensationalizing journalist in the Everglades than there are Killer snakes. And since these journalist prey on inflated stats and peoples fears to keep them and politicians in a job, could we then label them as Africanized Journalist and Killer Politicians?...


Rob

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## WingedWolfPsion

I wrote to the journalist, and he said he's gotten a number of letters and calls, and as a result is doing a follow-up piece on the reptile nation's fight against the bans.
I mentioned the fact that cateaters always stay smaller than either parent, too.
Should be interesting to see.

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Muze (09-17-2009),_Vypyrz_ (09-17-2009)

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## twistedtails

> I'm pretty sure their called bateaters not cateaters.


A Bateater is a burmese x retic. :Good Job:  Produced and named by Bob Clark I believe.

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## MarkS

Here is another article from another source...  

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/n...laces_20090924

Anyone remember back in the day when organizations like the Christian Science Monitor and National Geographic used to have some semblance of Journalism ethics and standards?  I wonder what happened?

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## tbowman

> They do not, however, have the same chances of surviving. Burms are doing so well because the Everglades match their home climate so closely, boas and other python species don't like the high humidity and wetlands of the everglades or southern-Florida as much.


Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't boas live in rain forests? Burms and Retics Both live in southeast Asia. I just think that boas would cause much less impact on local ecosystems(MUCH MUCH smaller snake). As for retics, There are a LOT more burms in the pet trade than retics. Burms are one of the most popular snakes in the pet trade. Much less Idiots have even heard of Retics in my opinion.

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## ladywhipple02

This is my favorite falacy to this:

"The rock python "is mean right out of the egg, and they don't ever tame down," says Kenneth Krysko, a senior biologist at the Florida Museum of Natural History."

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## lepidunce

Umm... Everything is kinda taggy right out the egg... Ignorance is the media's playhouse, I guess.... I wish for back in the day when yellow journalism was aimed at politicians instead of pythons....  :Sad:

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## RebelYell83

am i the only one who picked up,that the imporoperly cared for(fed,and caged)burm that killed the little girl,was reported in the article as being a released pet?,i emailed the author,explaining some things on hybridiing,as well on that info on the little girl

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## Mike@OutbackReptiles-D



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_Brewster320_ (10-12-2009),_Raptor_ (10-12-2009)

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## nixer

thats a good one mike :ROFL:  :ROFL:  :ROFL:  :ROFL:  :ROFL:  :ROFL:

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