Are pythons overrunning the Everglades?

[Ohlacey]

Wow... I'm really sorry, guys. I spoke only from personal experience. I haven't been out for a few months but I'd seen several pythons a week when I guided horse-back trail rides.

I really didn't mean to step on toes. Thought that was clear.

[Ohlacey]

Gators kill more key deer then the pythons. But the biggest killer to the key deer has been humans. As growth and developement pushes the limits around the keys it takes away their habitat pushing them deeper into areas overwhelmed with gators.

Cars take out even more than the gators do, annually I'm pretty sure. I only mentioned it as a thought...

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

Cars take out even more than the gators do, annually I'm pretty sure. I only mentioned it as a thought...

Ohlacey.. Did you check out the 2 links I posted? The one by huff post and the CNN one?

[snake lab]

Ohlacey. Your not steppin on toes. Oppinions, views, stances, debates, its all what the forum is. Im not attacking. Just pointin out some things. The facts about the glades pythons have been so twisted by the media. And the facts are that pet owners ate not the ones that released the amount of pythons it would take to create a problem. Was there a number of pythons in the glades? Sure there was. Was it because of owner release? No way. It was a direct result of hurricane andrew and the destruction of zoo miami and other breeding facilities. Did the pythons snack on wildlife? Sure they did. They had to eat. But they did not endanger any species in the glades. They simply competed against the gators food source. Now the most important fact. The winter of 2010 not only killed of the majority of the puthons but it also killed off alot indiginous animals as well. A fact that supporters of the python ban ignore still now.

[Ohlacey]

Ohlacey.. Did you check out the 2 links I posted? The one by huff post and the CNN one?

I didn't notice the video until you posted this, but I don't doubt a bit of it. Thanks for sharing the links, though.

Again, I was only speaking from experience. By no means do I have even a hint of a strong voice or opinion politically (though I'm sometimes ashamed to admit that).

[Ohlacey]

Ohlacey. Your not steppin on toes. Oppinions, views, stances, debates, its all what the forum is. Im not attacking. Just pointin out some things. The facts about the glades pythons have been so twisted by the media. And the facts are that pet owners ate not the ones that released the amount of pythons it would take to create a problem. Was there a number of pythons in the glades? Sure there was. Was it because of owner release? No way. It was a direct result of hurricane andrew and the destruction of zoo miami and other breeding facilities. Did the pythons snack on wildlife? Sure they did. They had to eat. But they did not endanger any species in the glades. They simply competed against the gators food source. Now the most important fact. The winter of 2010 not only killed of the majority of the puthons but it also killed off alot indiginous animals as well. A fact that supporters of the python ban ignore still now.

I didn't know it went so far back... I know we've had a couple odd population booms since Andrew ripped up Africa USA. In fact, my house is built next to a whole bunch of baobabs and we've seen more than a few monkeys that date back. (though most of those guys have moved south now)

And I know pythons definitely didn't contribute to the endangerment of key deer. The species has had a hard time sustaining for a long enough time period for anyone to look at the situation in a different light. (I can't cite you on that one, though)

I was definitely under the wrong impression if being released wasn't such a contributing factor in their population rise, though. I suppose I ought to check some more statistics on my own state before relying on just my own experience... Half of what you see, none of what you hear, right?

[dr del]

I sense a troll. You just joined today and your first response is to this thread. Log off and go python hunting...

You need to retune those senses a bit.

Trolls are pretty rare on this site as we do look for them ( and other suspicious accounts and behaviours ) I promise.


dr del

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

I didn't notice the video until you posted this, but I don't doubt a bit of it. Thanks for sharing the links, though.

Again, I was only speaking from experience. By no means do I have even a hint of a strong voice or opinion politically (though I'm sometimes ashamed to admit that).

I don't doubt that you have seen them in the wild. Many I that area have. It's just that lately they have not been seen and there have been reports coming in from the people who have been actively hunting them that there are very few if any to be found.

It's true that the population was primarily started by the hurricane destroying a large facility that held many imports. There were genetic tests done on many of the initial Burms caught to prove this.

We can only hope that the cold spell did in fact reduce the population that much.

[Ohlacey]

I don't doubt that you have seen them in the wild. Many I that area have. It's just that lately they have not been seen and there have been reports coming in from the people who have been actively hunting them that there are very few if any to be found.

It's true that the population was primarily started by the hurricane destroying a large facility that held many imports. There were genetic tests done on many of the initial Burms caught to prove this.

We can only hope that the cold spell did in fact reduce the population that much.

Actually, it's been since October 2010 since I've seen any. I just moved back to S. FL a year ago from north central, so that makes quite a bit of sense. (insert embarrassment here)

And I had no idea. Then again... I was one when Andrew rolled through Florida.

[heathers*bps]

I was born and raised in Florida, lived there for 20+ years, and never saw a python in the wild