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 This is a 12-foot North African rock python found during an |
African rock pythons add to worries about snakes in Everglades
By Andy Reid, Sun Sentinel
January 13, 2010
Fears of a new "super snake" emerging in the Everglades grew this week during
a hunt to track South Florida's invasive python population.
A three-day,
state-coordinated hunt that started Tuesday so far netted at least five African
rock pythons — including one 14-foot-long female — in a targeted area in
Miami-Dade County.
Those findings add to concerns that the rock python is
a new breeding population in the Everglades and not just the result of a few
overgrown pets released into the wild, according to the South Florida Water
Management District.
In addition, state environmental officials worry
that the rock python could breed with the Burmese python, which already has an
established foothold in the Everglades. That could lead to a new "super snake,"
said George Horne, district deputy executive director.
In Africa, the
rock python eats everything from goats to crocodiles. There have been cases of
the snakes killing children.
"They are bigger and meaner than the Burmese
python. … It's not good news," said Deborah Drum, deputy director for the
district's restoration sciences department.
The concern is that a blended
breed of python could pose even more risk of large constrictor snakes spreading
in the Everglades, where they add to the strain on native wildlife in South
Florida's shrinking natural habitat.
State officials have estimated
thousands of Burmese pythons already have spread through Everglades National
Park.
Some are thought to be exotic pets released by people who no longer
wished to care for them.
Others are said to have escaped during past
hurricanes and then bred new generations in the wild.
South Florida's
string of unusually frigid temperatures flushed more of the snakes out of the
wild and onto flood control levees, according to the district.
The snake
hunt targets an area near the intersection of Tamiami Trail and Krome Avenue in
Miami-Dade County. It includes representatives from the water management
district, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Everglades
National Park.
Three of the Northern African rock pythons found this week
were captured, two got away. One measured 21 inches around the
middle.
The African rock python typically has a "nastier disposition"
than the Burmese python, said LeRoy Rodgers, a scientist for the South Florida
Water Management District and a participant in the hunt.
Andy Reid can be
reached at abreid@SunSentinel.com or 561-228-5504.