PYTHONS ARE A COMING

 

The title is intended to be read to the music of Shrimp Boats' opening line.....Shrimp boats are a coming, their sails are in sight.

 

Pythons are a first class for real problem in Florida. Interestingly, I have commented on this problem in recent years on my radio and Internet shows.

 

The problem is there are tens of thousands of them. No other way to describe how many. They are pro Santorum. Pythons do not use condoms nor practice birth control. The experts advise they cannot be eliminated. There is no known way to eradicate pythons anywhere in the world.

 

Not too encouraging.

 

Where did these pythons come from? Two ways generally. The first were pet owners who could no longer manage the snake pet in their homes. They dumped their python somewhere in the Everglades. The other is Hurricane Andrew. The 1992 disaster. Wiped out Homestead. As it destroyed much in its path, the winds picked up pet pythons and spread them into the Everglades and elsewhere.

 

Then reproduction commenced.

 

The pythons are moving southward from the Everglades. They are already in the northern keys. It is just a question of time till they are as far south as Key West.

 

Pythons are pretty big. Some up to 23 feet long. Can weigh as much as 200 pounds. They first squeeze their prey to stun or kill. Then swallow them. Animals as big as bobcats and white tailed deer.

 

A recent study indicated that animals and birds in the Everglades have been dinner for the python establishment. Animals such as marsh rabbits, raccoons, opossums, alligators, white tail deer, and bobcats. Birds such as wading birds, ibis, rails, and herons.

 

The same study also reflected that the pythons are moving out of the Everglades. One place they are migrating into is the keys. Key Largo has already experienced the python invasion.

 

To put the problem in better perspective, reference is made to certain statistical findings. The study included a sightings report. Sightings made in 2003 and then again in 2011. During those 8 years, raccoon sightings were down 99.3 %, opossums 98.9 %, white tailed deer 94.1 %, and bobcats 87.5 %. The numbers speak for themselves.

 

The problem recently received attention at the federal level. Last week, Florida Senator Bill Nelson proposed a law banning the importation and exportation of all python species.

 

The State of Florida has worked on the problem, also. State law requires any one keeping a python to (1) obtain a permit to so do and (2) implant a microchip in certain pythons.

 

Pythons are on the march. Today, the Everglades to Key Largo. Tomorrow, the middle and lower keys. I suspect that unless something dramatic is done, the Key West area will experience the python problem in the next 5-10 years.

 

No one wants a python in their back yard.

 

Be aware there is a problem and that it is one of growing magnitude.