I like snakes...even this guy.

Eradicate these pythons. Kill 'em all.

16 ft Burmese python? Holly f*ck, how big do they get? I thought the Amazon Anacondas are the biggest snakes in the world! They rarely get to those lenghts but weigh more than the pythons! At the rate at which these floridian pythons are growing, people need to be weary....one ambush from one of these guys and it's over quickly....

Ok all you idiots who have released your exotic snakes now you see what happens.

These critters can eat your children. And that would just be a snack for these huge monsters.

These pythons can actually eat alligators. And an alligator is a tough critter. Think you'd have any chance against one these?

Fortunately, these things like to stay in the wild areas.

.

.

doc...how fu(kin' big do they get? big enough to eat a fu(kin' deer.

These and other invasive species should never have been allowed into this country. PERIOD! Half of Florida is apparently populated by idiots who would own these "Pets" and then throw them away in the Everglades when they either get too big; tire of them or can't feed them in their trailer because the trailer isn't long enough or these "Pets" strangle the life out of their babies when these "Pets" sneak out of their crates.

The other 50 % of the idiots living in Florida are Florida State Representatives and Florida Wildlife officials who couldn't see the problem rearing its ugly head years ago and the pet shop owners who sell these demons.

Are there really that many morons living in Florida?...........apparently there are. Who couldn't see this train wreck coming?

JON writes: "Another reason not to live in Florida.”

In a long line of reasons, the prevalence of open and rampant corruption in every level of government is another. One can bribe everyone in government from the dog catcher to the governor. The price, of course, is commensurate with the level of the position.

"Half of Florida is apparently populated by idiots who would own these "Pets" and then throw them away"

No. If you take a moment to think about it, only 2 illegal releases (male and female of same species) are needed to start a breeding population, which then swells to invasive proportions given the proper environment (ample food supply, lack of predation, compatible climate, etc). While likely more than 2 were released by irresponsible pet owners, the point is that it's not an issue of your average Floridian releasing (or even owning) such an animal; it's an issue of South Florida having an ideal tropical climate and a lack of natural predators. You could release 10,000 pythons in Alaska without them ever becoming a problem, b/c they'd die from the hostile environment. So rather than blaming the people of Florida (most of whom do not own reptiles, and would not dump them in the woods if they did), try blaming its reptile-friendly climate. I would also like to add that the unreasoning hatred of Florida and Floridians evinced in these posts does not speak highly of the locales from which said posters originate.

These things are the product of irresponsible owners bringing snakes into the country, not being able to take care of them and letting them loose to fend for themselves. It costs the state a lot of money to curtail their destruction to native wildlife.

I guess this means less money for police, EMTs and teachers in Florida. Nice set of priorities Rick Scott!

What a crap ass set of priorities this state has developed and enforced through deregulation.

We are a mess down here. This is not exclusive to the Everglades.

hi doc: Burmese pythons REGULARLY reach larger than 16 ft in the wild. This is just a fully adult snake...probably in its late teens. They grow in relation to their food supply and living area size, so in the wild, with small deer and other mammals to eat whenever necessary, yep, they get this big. In fact they'll get this big in captivity if you keep feeding them.

Anacondas reach lengths of 28+ feet. big critters.

Could the swallow a full sized lobbyist?

16ft is no big deal. Two pythons were found next to my HS right after I graduated, one was 18ft and the other was 22ft. Granted my HS was in Indonesia, it was in the city, not in a rural area. These bad boys are here to stay.

Though half of the fault lies with the dumbasses who release them into the wild, the other half belongs to the importers. They're bringing in many such snakes each year knowing full well the majority of buyers will not know what to do once the little babies turn into massive pythons.

Well said, Bio101-4392754.

Rick Scott may be a snake, but this problem with invasive species is not his fault whatsoever. He is not even from here, like most of those derogatory commenters ragging on Florida. Your comparisons/reasoning would be similar to saying every state an Asian Carp swims by is full of idiots because of it...

I do admit, it sucks here(South Florida) compared to when I was a kid growing up, but where has it remained untainted anywhere? Old Florida is Sold & Gone. Rampant Unchecked/Unmanaged Development has squeezed our green spaces out of existence nearly. Pollution and dwindling water supplies are other problems resultant of this 'Progress' destroying a once most beautiful state.

If you do not like it here, remember what we used to tell the Yankees that would bitch about everything:

I-95 North. Take it.

The other was:

Would the last American leaving South Florida Please Bring The Flag with them!

That is an old Miami saying. Miami is an entirely separate case of Third World Takeover...

Peace

That python is nothing.......I'm more worried about the RW CONServative Tea-nut Snakes in our Nation's Capital.

[quote]DocHolliday-2979123

16 ft Burmese python? Holly f*ck, how big do they get? I thought the Amazon Anacondas are the biggest snakes in the world! They rarely get to those lenghts but weigh more than the pythons! At the rate at which these floridian pythons are growing, people need to be weary....one ambush from one of these guys and it's over quickly....[/quote]

The Anaconda is the biggest in the world, but it's not the longest. The Anaconda can grow up to 26 feet. The longest snake in the world is the Asian Python. The Asian Python can grow between 31 and 39 feet long.

The biggest snake ever, was discovered in Colombia between 2004 and 2007. It weighed more than 2,500 pounds and was between 40 and 50 feet long. It lived 60 million years ago.

Here is a really big snake that's alive in Indonesia. It's 49 feet long and weighs 983 pounds.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3845750/ns/world_news/t/-foot-python-captured-indonesia/

@kdc43 yawn...political rhetoric is getting old especially in the section of this site that have absolutely nothing to do with politics. Go take your political trolling elsewhere and leave us to discuss this python in peace.

I'd rather have snakes than deer they tear up yer lawn.... Just another dumb comment! \=^o^=/

Just don't wear your deer costume!!

just don't get out of the car

Those things still terrify me and I haven't lived in FL for many years. They are seriously awful creatures....still make me shudder.

Oh, you mean our Caribbean Mahogany Birds, hehe? That's what they are called here in St. Croix.

We call them Palmetto Bugs here in SoFla!

Hey notsojingo, thats what they're called here in South Carolina too.

They just call them Water Bugs here. What's funny is that I find them everywhere not near the water.

Caribbean Mahogany Birds........I like that one. :)

I would have loved to have seen that deer get et.

Wasn't it Bush/Cheney who turned the snakes loose after 9/11? But ya'll let them get away.

Catch and release? I doubt that you even have a fishing pole.

How long had he lived before being shot? Too long.

The snake was killed in the wild. And in this case, release is the problem! Pythons are not native to the Everglades. They were introduced by man and are devastating an already fragile ecosystem. They should be killed wherever and whenever found. We're not about to start relocating them to South America.

those snakes are not indigenous to FLA...they put a big crimp in the balance of nature there.

Lyrica, you're insane (and clearly ignorant of the problem of invasive plants and animals afflicting the mild-winter parts of peninsular Florida).

This is all damage control. So many "once a pet" reptiles, amphibians, birds and fish have just been dumped off at the edge of the metropolitan areas in South Florida...and the critters decimate whatever natural (native) species.

Didn't Charlie Crist sign a law about prohibiting the sale of certain pet animals in Florida? Someone please advise.

Well...gimme

While sometimes I do question my own sanity, I do understand that (as I said before if you want to re-read my original statement) catch and release would be difficult considering the size, I can still be sad that it was killed. I'm sure you'll eventually understand that you can disagree with someone without attempting to insult them or be so condescending, but after reading a few of your other posts, I can't bet on it.

Lyrica, they can't catch and release these snakes. They are not indigenous to the area and they have no natural predators. The only other alternative would be a zoo, but most zoos already have plenty of pythons I would imagine.

True enough, green. I bet it's very difficult. I'm not suggesting they HAD to do that, I was simply stating I'm a fan of catch and release, perhaps I should have followed it up with 'whenever possible'.

Lyrica

Burmese pythons are natives of Burma (now Myanmar) if you come with a plan to release them there, the lovely Burmese people (who have enough problems already) certainly won't want them back since they undoubtly carrying diseases they've acquired in Florida. Putting them down is the only viable, if you will, solution.

Lyrica,

I must apologize for my snide comment about your "catch and release" post. The term is used by fishermen, of which I am one. I believe you meant, "catch and relocate", a completely different concept.

I still do not believe it is a viable option; a pest is a pest, a dangerous pest is worse. One doesn't "catch and relocate" rats, mice, roaches, termites, etc.

Ahhhh I see, wrong wording on my part. I was thinking catch and release elsewhere but you are right, catch and relocate. Thank you for correcting me without being snide and condescending, and no worries. :D

Lyrica,

I really do appreciate your love of living things. It is a shame that people relinquish their responsibilities for the care of the animals they adopt and then turn away. I wish it wasn't so.

Yet, the options are few. I wish there was more care taken and information given to the populace. At the same time we also have many pit bull attacks here too. Some lethal.

I don't know how you change a culture. I've seen this many times in Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica. It's a different world down here.

Chris Mckay: they are not indigenous to South America either. This is a Burmese Python which common sense would tell you indicated it originated in Burma. (Myanmar)

Some would argue that these and boas are now indigenous to Florida since they'll never be erradicated. There's programs I've watched about this, and quite a few scientists (biologists and ecologists, animal specialists) believe there's really no way, ever, that this will go away. They are now part of the ecosystem.

Not to say that releasing into the wild should continue, nor that when they're found getting into areas populated by humans they shouldn't be put down.... damage control is still important. But, they're there to stay.

as I sit and read of the concerns white people have about non-native species of snakes upsetting the natural order of things in any part of the Americas I can't help but think there is a joke here somewhere

philip munroe,

A joke? Why?

I get ya, philip!

notso,

I do not. Enlighten.

spi,

I somehow feel you do not really need this Enlightenment, but...

A Python and a Man went into the Swamp...the Snake says, "You new around here?"

We, Humans, being the OTHER exotic species which damages the Natural Environment in relatively short order by our disruption to the balance of ecosystems developed over millions of years of evolution while panicking over exotic snakes, lizards and bugs!!

Hilarious!!!! Thanks for the laugh, philip munroe.

Hope that clues you in somewhat. The real joke is that it is not funny at all, just truly ironic.

notso,

Try again. Philip did not say humans, he specifically cited white people. I'll ask again, where is the joke?

You know, spike, I have to admit my smuggness having broke down my observation ability. With that considered, perhaps he was excluding the earliest occupants of the Penisula, which apparently never harmed the overall equation in place, with the 'White' man coming in and f'ing everything up while perfecting it!

But I now say, my apologies, Spike, for having overlooked the nuance, which validates your question and is fair game to inquire as to his connotation. Forgive me.

Stepping back, with head bowed..

Peace

notso,

No problem. It is just that I am so tired of the Indians touting the sacredeness of the Americas before the Europeans arrived, for that is what Philip was implying. The Indians walked across the Alaskan land bridge, the Europeans sailed the oceans to get here---neither were native species.

The Americas were rife with murder, war, rape, enslavement, cannibalism, and land grabs long before the arrival of the Europeans.

I am just tired of the "guilt trips" that some try to put on the white man!

BTW---Remember Iron Eyes Cody? He was the "Indian" with the tear down his cheek in the PSA's? He was born in Louisiana of Sicilian immigrants, and made a living portraying an Indian. A big scam! I refer to him as Pizza Eyes de Corti.

Remember Iron Eyes Cody?

Yeah. That guy did pretty well. Remember Bonanza and F Troop?!! Great Indians on those shows, as well as the rest the Western Themed shows of those days, pre-PC Nazis, right?

"We're the Fuqawi!"

Which also reminds me of a joke...

A couple went to Hawaii for their honeymoon, and wanted to see how a Native actually pronounced the name of the state, Hawaii or Havaii. The first obvious native old guy they see on the beach they ask. He says "Havaii." And they thanked him profusely for clearing it up for them.

The 'Native' Hawaiin says, "You're Velcome!"

;-))

Oooh, clever.

There is treatment available for your OCD.

LOL amen

Really? You seriously can't look at the picture of the beast that ate a adult deer and can't figure it out? Hey McFly!!!

Yep there are a bunch of them. They call them TeaPublicans.

Sheesh, now they're repeating each other. You and Randy friends?

Marie TW: there's a slew of non-local people there too...and most of them are every bit as unsavory as large non-indigenous, dangerous reptiles. I would get behind a hunt for them too (and that includes 80 year old Yankees) lol

Hardly. The Florida "rain machine" does NOT occur like clockwork. Stop perpetuating a sensational myth. While summertime T-storms do flare up on the penisula, it's not everyday at the same hour...the prevailing wind and the seabreeze dictates who gets the rain (which side of the state), what falls (how much) and when.

thank you weatherman fred....

Um, gimmeabreakoradrink: don't know where you've been in Fla or for how long but it most certainly DID rain every day at around 4 pm, at least in Jacksonville it did. (right when I had to run like hell to get to my car and go to work dripping wet) Mostly in the late spring to early summer as I recall. I lived there for some years and we did happen to joke and laugh about needing it to rain so you can set your watch.

No doubt. A goodly number of Democrats are myopic and suffer from OCD. Geez, get a life!

JCJ - Man you don't have to make bad on all the good ol' G.O.P. boys and girls now you know to get the right digestion that little ol' snake needs some good old DEMOCRATES along with em!!

Why kill the snake? So it doesn't make more snakes. Newsflash: Invasive species proliferate and destroy native wildlife. Now, said snake was in the Everglades. How's about said snake being in your backyard? Want a sixteen foot python eyeballing you as its next meal? Want any of its offspring eating your pets? Think that can't happen?

Additionally, many of these invasive species carry disease, communicable to other animals and humans. Look at what the Asian carp have done to the Great Lakes, ditto the Zebra mussels. It's estimated that damage by invasive species (flora and fauna) cost the taxpayers 138 billion dollars a year.

san diego zoo does not accept offers to donate snakes. owners of unwanted reptiles have left them at the zoo at night for the zoo attendants to find them in the morning and what becomes of them i don't know. maybe the zoos should start accepting the snakes and then euthanize them as a service to the community. relatives of mine lived near a lake in Ocala Florida -tourists frequently disposed of the cute little souvenir alligators into the lake. years later the gators were roaming the neighborhood at night in search of small pets. wasn't safe to go walking at night. all exotic pets should be illegal.

1st. These pythons could kill people... but its very unlikely at best. They eat everything (from mice, birds to gators down there), so it is possible since they aren't choosy, just very unlikely.

2nd. The invasive species is already established and breeding in the glades. So there are thousands out there and mature females have nests of about 30 eggs. Hence, we are way past the stage where any zoo or nice animal sanctuaries are willing to take on that many animals that large and that eat that much. Hundreds are killed every month and we aren't making much of a dent in their population; they are thriving in an area with dozens of federally protected species live.

3rd. The whole people releasing exotic pets as the stereotype is somewhat true, but that isn't how this (or even most) evasive species get established. Hurricanes into reptile shops and pet dealers breeding species on public land (they can just head out and collect more anytime they need instead of importing and paying for food for these reptiles) are the two main

4th. There is already the massive indigo snake native to the glades that tries to eat everything as well. These Burmese Pythons are basically overpowering and restricting the feeding grounds and dens of the monster snake that already lives in the glades. You were right that the park officials in charge of a huge nature reserve did kill the python out of fear, but out of fear of what they are trying to perverse... not of some snake.

TLDR: The article is news only because it is the biggest. Thousands of these snakes are in the glades, hundreds are killed each month. The pythons are a big problem with many native species at risk with their ever increasing presence. Again, this isn't some guy who couldn't feed a 10ft snake, so he let it go in his backyard and now that particular snake got shot. This is an established non-native species.

@granny

You are right on the policies at most zoos. In response to this concern, many counties in Florida have an "amnesty" type day for exotic pets. This is basically a no questions asked swap meet. People bring in their exotic pets for whatever reason they can no longer care for and vets check over each one. Also if you are in the market for an exotic pet, you can get one for the cost of the vet shots and check-up here as well. They have been successful, but even under these much better circumstances some of these pets have to be euthanized because they are handed over in such bad shape.

The goal of these amnesty exotic swaps is the same; to keep these animals in people's houses that can care for them and out of everyone's backyard.

And you recommend putting this snake in a zoo? In that swamp deep in water, good luck trying to capture that snake alive without anyone getting hurt. I'm sure a local zoo that is already stressed from budget cuts don't mind getting a huge snake to now take care of that eats a whole deer.

Mac - my ex-husband used to be a docent at a local zoo and they didn't have enough room to house all of the Boas and Pythons that were purchased as pets, got too big and the owners needed to dump them off somewhere. Bringing these critters to a zoo is not the answer.

These snakes are very inexpensive to buy, easy to care for (in comparison with other types of snakes or other pets in general) and they grow very, very rapidly.

I don't believe in banning them, but they should be much more difficult to acquire than they currently are. Honestly, it's more difficult to purchase a turtle than a Python - go figure!

yow

A spider that big is just one more reason I don't even want to visit Florida, never mind ever live there!!!

?

Um...... Clevelend is in Ohio. The python was found in Florida. All zoos are already budget strained from cuts, are you willing to pay the cost of relocation?

they wouldnt go looking for it .there wouldnt be any cost -would there. and how about the cost and gas wasted looking for them .you willing to pay that out of your pocket?

that was..by far..the most profound statement during the entire thread...where have they been hiding you?

Dave L., you are brave to step forward now, use your big boy words. :-)

it's called being at the top of the food chain...

Get a life, and a job. You will never make it as a comedian.

Not having either has never stopped you spike.

Noah,

If your job is a soothsayer, change careers, you are a failure.

Hows the obama thing working for you'

Ever hear of an alligator?