As with all dead animals in the wild, they usually are taken care by the critters that are present. When an animal dies in the wild, the entire wilderness population feasts. Then the microbes get involved and before you know it, there is no sign of that dead animal. Animals as large as deer, elk, and bear are usually eatened within a few days, then the microbes finish the job in less than a week. With these snakes, the feasting would be quick and easy. There would probably be no bones left. The types of animals in the Everglades would tend to account for a really quick meal, not allowing an observer to see much. With the size fo the bones in these snakes, even if the llittle critters were feasting on the snakes, it would be almost impopssible to see any bones laying on the ground or in the water.

As someone else mentioned, many of these snakes probably died in a den or burrow. We will probably never know how many died.

This also happened at a good time for the propagation or lack there of. Many of these snakes would have bred this year. I would think that the larger females couldn't have gotten deep enough to thermoregulate, so my guess is that most of the snakes that died were females. At least the larger breeders.

I don't know that we'll ever have numbers to study, but I do know that with the "new found" knowledge that snakes can't llive in these temperatures, we've shined the light on many problems with the "offical" reports that these snakes will be seen in New York City in the next 25 years. Even the Congress Critters have to take a second look at the legislation.

Jim Smith