As a south Florida resident I must say that there are a large number of pythons cohabiting the everglades these days... but the damages reported seem really out of proportion. Pythons fall prey to many of the species mentioned and as predators they're doing a great job removing some of the overpopulated nuisance critters who cause real problems.

The only real issue I've noted involves the occasions where pythons prey on the endangered key deer, though to be completely the species wasn't thriving all that well before anyone considered snakes as a culprit. The deer were dwindling in number for a reason...

In any case, we can only blame owner negligence. Fair? Not at all, but we're talking about an area where a lot of dog breeds have been banned because of human incapacity too.