Finally a positive article on the Burm situation in Florida

[xdeus]

Everglades python deaths fuel debate over snake-control plans

Shawn Heflick, a conservation biologist from Palm Bay and science advisor to a trade group called the U.S. Association of Reptile Keepers, said a cold-weather toll he estimated at 70 to 80 percent proved that federal risk assessments suggesting the snake could spread to other states were overblown.

``This population of pythons cannot expand outside of Florida,'' he said. ``This is a Florida problem, not a federal problem.''

[ColinWeaver]

I wouldn't go so far as to call it positive. It's neutral. But that's progress.

I'm curious how Mazotti went out after the cold spell and found 99 Burmese pythons fast enough to know that a bunch of them were dead. Dead Burms, like all, dead animals, get scavenged pretty quickly buy opportunistic feeders. People are going out for days on end and not turning up a single Burm but he found 99 in a very narrow window. Seriously? Dude is magic.

If he can kick up 99 Burms in a few days of hunting I want to go snake hunting with him ...ANYWHERE. Black kingsnake hunting in extreme Western Virginia will be our first stop. After that we'll pop on over to Southern Texas and clean up on the alterna hot spots. This guy has the golden snake collector touch so I'm looking forward to hanging out.

[xdeus]

Yeah, I thought the same thing. I thought it was pretty incredible that they found 99 burms, but then I read that part again. The article said the team found "nearly 60 percent of 99 snakes". Does that include gopher, garter and sharp-tailed snakes?

[TheReptileEnthusiast]

Dead animals in south florida are pretty easy to find, just look for the vultures. I probably found at least a hundred dead iguanas after the first real bad cold spell. They like to sleep on branches that overhang water, so when they froze and fell into the water, they drowned. There were bloated carcasses floating under every big tree that overhangs the water. Native turtles were using the dead iguanas as basking spots. Of course, iguanas were waaay more common that burms, but I could see turning up quite a few dead ones if you knew where to look. 99 does seem a little out there though. How many were radio tagged?

[TheReptileEnthusiast]

Yeah, I thought the same thing. I thought it was pretty incredible that they found 99 burms, but then I read that part again. The article said the team found "nearly 60 percent of 99 snakes". Does that include gopher, garter and sharp-tailed snakes?

Very few natives die off from our "cold snaps".

[xdeus]

Very few natives die off from our "cold snaps".

True, but I find it difficult to believe that they found 99 Burms and 60% of those were alive after that cold snap. If so, then there probably is a huge Burm problem down there. I've been herping in the California and Arizona deserts known for a large snake population and didn't spot any snakes, so if a few people can find 99 of them... it must look like a low-budget sci-fi channel movie of the week in Florida.

[Russ Lawson]

Phyllis Windle, a senior invasive species scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the country needs to overhaul its entire system for dealing with the python and other invasive species, which she called the "least recognized and most poorly addressed environmental threat of our time.''

This statement from the article has bothered the hell out of me since I first read it. She seriously must be living under a rock to make such a statement, and clearly has little understanding of the actual issue at hand. (I'd bet she's an armchair scientist who only read USGS report). Burmese pythons are one of the most widely recognized invasive species in the United States due to all the media attention they have been getting, and the state of Florida has been managing the issue quite well between the RoC laws and the python hunts and other efforts to lower the numbers of the feral burm population. If she really wanted to make an accurate statement, she would have stated that about feral cats...

[mainbutter]

I wonder how many of the snakes that "survived" the cold snap are now suffering from infections they contracted due to weakened immune systems, and still have yet to die off. I'd still say that they died because of the cold.