Invasive Pythons In Florida.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/19/us/tons-of-pythons-in-swfl-irpt/


Pythons have been invading Florida. They are disrupting the food chain and have become the dominant predator, surpassing the crocodile.

 

[YOUTUBE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV1wl_5ooto[/YOUTUBE]

 

We have a huge problem with several invasive non-native species in the U.S.

It continues to astound me that the state of Florida does not yet declare it open season on the pythons.
And I continue to be astounded that importation of non-native venomous snakes is not a felony.

 

The pythons aren't venomous, but that does not mean that they are not a threat to not only the ecosystem, but humans, especially kids. It should still be a felony.

I just can't help but wonder who imported them. They multiplied and thrived in Florida real well.

 

I can't even!

 

I used to watch those snakes hunting shows and they'd a lot of the time it could have been introduced a long time ago to kill off something else. But then that needed to be killed off too so they introduce something else to kill that off. But then that needs to be killed off too which leads down to the snakes that are over populated and don't really have that many natural enemies so they thrive.

 

People also buy snakes, and they escape or people decide to dump them, too. This is a major problem.My neighbor's daughter is going to Florida this summer to help rescue small dogs in the Florida marshes ...where people are dumping them in numbers for the crocs and snakes to feed on. Can you imagine that?
She asked if I wanted to go, too.
She is great...An animal advocate just like me.

 

When I was in Florida a few years ago, the invasive pythons were all over the news. There was a python hunting contest going on. Prizes were offered for the person who could capture and kill the largest snake as well as the greatest number of snakes.

 

There's no way to stop such invasions. In Hawaii they were worried about brown tree snakes invading. They're poisonous, will eat every bird and anything else around, and drop on you from the branches. So far, they've been able to stop them from establishing themselves, but Hawaii is not exactly a giant swamp filled with alligators. Instead of tree snakes, they got tree frogs that are louder than cicadas and never die because they don't have cold weather in Hawaii. They've had a million cats on the islands since who knows how long, but they're certainly not native. You call someplace paradise, kiss it goodbye.

 

This is and has been a big problem for a long time. We have laws but these laws have always been difficult to enforce. What will happen the snakes will eventually eat everything and die out because they will have nothing to survive on.

 

If the snakes die out like you say they will, it won't be without putting several local species in the ecosystem extinct first.

 

I think this is mostly due to people buying pythons as pets and then not being able to care for them as they grow because, ya know, they're pythons and they're fucking huge. So they're released into the wild.

Idiots.

I used to know a guy, who actually lives on FL now, who has a collection of venemous snakes. I dont think he would ever be dumb enough to release them but what if something happens and they get out of their cages? Anything could happen..a house fire, an earthquake, a tornado or hurricane, any kind of natural disaster could knock their cages over or whatever and bam, they're part of the Florida ecosystem. I know that sounds far fetched but you really just never know

Wild animals should not be pets, it really bothers me when people are arrogant enough to think they can care for a wild animal..