Re the native fauna in FL, I recently came across some good papers on this. Written by the Barkers (can't remember first names), over at VPI, Vida Preciosa Internationale. They raise Pythons. They looked closely at some of the environmental studies re. the Burmese in the Everglades. They came to some unexpected conclusions. I tried to argue from their perspective on another forum with a member living in FL, but got absolutely nowhere.
I've also recently run into some really fascinating blogs kept by wildlife biologists, with a specific interest in herps. On of them is titled something like "Life is Short, Snakes are Long." There was another good blog, I'll try to dig it up later if I get some time.