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Serious Jeopardy: If you fell out of the boat in the Florida's Everglades, could you be eaten by a Burmese Python?

By Steve Lombardi

The short answer is yes you could. Florida has an indigenous problem with pet owners. Floridians have been dumping Burmese python snakes into the Everglades after they grow too big to be house pets. So much so, that their population is estimated to be moiré than 150,000 pythons now calling the Florida Everglades home. The St. Petersburg Times article states Burmese Pythons grow to 19 to 21 feet on average and lay as many as 100 eggs at a time and live for 25 years.

The question is what can be done about the problem and how serious is it.

It's serious enough that a recent sighting found the remains of a 13-foot Burmese python that tried to swallow a 6-foot alligator in Everglades National Park - and exploded.

'Scientists stumbled on the gory remains last week after a helicopter pilot spotted the carcasses. The gator's tail and hind legs were protruding from the python's ruptured gut, the two bodies locked together so tightly that it was almost hard to make out which was which.

"If the python got a good grip on the alligator before the alligator got a good grip on him, he could win," said Frank Mazzotti, a University of Florida wildlife professor who is an expert on gators and other reptiles.

Mazzotti thinks that as the gator was being swallowed, it clawed at the python's stomach, making the snake burst.'

The solutions being considered include putting a bounty on the existing python population along with banning the import of Burmese Pythons and other exotic pets that can pose serious health problems. Of course those of you who have exotic pets should consider being more responsible and those of you using the Florida Everglades need to be aware of the seriousness of this problem. Congressional legislation is also in the works, since money being spent to restore the Everglades is wasted when efforts to restore certain endangered species are prey to the Burmese Snake.

The latest, largest evidence emerged last week: A Burmese python stretching 16 ½ feet, the longest yet of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of the exotic constrictors the South Florida Water Management District has pulled off its lands and levees in the past few years.

More sobering: The female, found on the L-67 levee south of Tamiami Trail, was pregnant, carrying 59 eggs -- more proof the giant snakes are breeding in the wild.

''These are not little snakes running around. These are massive, dangerous animals,'' said district spokesman Randy Smith.

What does a Burmese Python look like?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOawK8W5wPw

A Burmese Python in the Florida Everglades

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yS6UfD2JoY

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Steve Lombardi

Full post as published by Des Moines Personal Injury Lawyer on June 07, 2009 (boomark / email).