Burmese Python eats adult deer!

http://jacksonville.com/news/florida...had-eaten-deer

http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/...ython_Jone.jpg

Officials in the Florida Everglades have captured and killed a 16-foot-long Burmese python that had just eaten an adult deer.


Scott Hardin, exotic species coordinator for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, says workers found the snake on Thursday. The reptile was one of the largest ever found in South Florida.

Hardin says the python had recently consumed a 76-pound female deer that had died. He says it was an important capture to help stop the spread of pythons further north.

Glad to see one of the adults out of the ecosystem. I saw that pic yesterday, that food belly is huge.

Yea that's crazy. I think its funny how they say "it was an important capture to help stop the spread of pythons further north."
They caught it, its all over. there's no more out there!

I'm glad they haven't made it to Minnesota yet. Maybe this is what happens in 2012, all the dead deer are gone.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by LotsaBalls

I'm glad they haven't made it to Minnesota yet. Maybe this is what happens in 2012, all the dead deer are gone.

---

A sad day indeed. What is the world coming to when you can't walk outside and find a dead deer?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ezekiel285

Yea that's crazy. I think its funny how they say "it was an important capture to help stop the spread of pythons further north."
They caught it, its all over. there's no more out there!

---

While I disagree with the articles stating that they can survive further north, I sincerely hope you're joking. There's quite a bit of them out in the glades, and it's important to keep removing them from the ecosystem.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by The Hedgehog

While I disagree with the articles stating that they can survive further north, I sincerely hope you're joking. There's quite a bit of them out in the glades, and it's important to keep removing them from the ecosystem.

---

No i understand they need to be removed, i just think its funny that they present it like taking this one snake out has solved the problem. You're right there are "quite a bit of them out in the glades" but they only removed one. That's all i thought was funny.

I think that particular snake is a champ. That is a serious meal, I wonder if it would have been able to digest it or if it would have regurgitated. I would have liked to have kept an eye on it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AtlasStrike

I think that particular snake is a champ. That is a serious meal, I wonder if it would have been able to digest it or if it would have regurgitated. I would have liked to have kept an eye on it.

---

i'm sure that after the high speed chase the python put them through they couldn't risk taking it alive :rolleyes:. catching that burm alive would have been as hard as taking a boulder captive :tears:.

Just a sad day when they kill any snake for any reason :tears:

Now now, this is an argument going on in another thread.

I am not entirely opposed to removing burms from the everglades, they are afterall an invasive species. I think necropsies of captured animals yield valuable information for biologists and ecologists, however in this case I really would have liked to see if the snake could pull through. It is not uncommon for hungry snakes to take on too big a meal and either die trying to swallow it or regurge (or be unable to fully regurge) later. I think the information about prey size from tagging and monitoring this snake could have been more valuable than necropsy results.