# Burmese python caught while swimming in Florida bay



## MULTIZ321 (Aug 12, 2019)

Burmese python caught while swimming in Florida bay.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...catches-burmese-python-naples-bay/1984718001/


Richard


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## "Roger" (Aug 12, 2019)

Yuck!! Maybe this is why some Tuggers object to Rich's posts.

(Said tongue in cheek.)


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## clifffaith (Aug 12, 2019)

This one wouldn't load completely to the end on my iPad, so I made a note to check when I was on my office computer to make sure he killed the thing. Ugh!


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## DaveNV (Aug 12, 2019)

clifffaith said:


> This one wouldn't load completely to the end on my iPad, so I made a note to check when I was on my office computer to make sure he killed the thing. Ugh!



“Iannotta pulled the snake onto the boat with a gaff, killing it. He put the snake on ice and disposed of it once he reached shore at the end of the day.”

Dave


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## Passepartout (Aug 13, 2019)

That's it. I'm done. No getting near water in Florida for me. Nope. Uh-uh. Not with snakes in the water. Not me.

Jim


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## DaveNV (Aug 13, 2019)

Passepartout said:


> That's it. I'm done. No getting near water in Florida for me. Nope. Uh-uh. Not with snakes in the water. Not me.
> 
> Jim



Seriously?  You know snakes everywhere swim, right?  Not just Florida. A python swimming in Florida is less likely to bite anything than a python on solid ground.  Or in a tree.  Are you going to stop climbing trees?  

Dave


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## clifffaith (Aug 13, 2019)

DaveNW said:


> Seriously?  You know snakes everywhere swim, right?  Not just Florida. A python swimming in Florida is less likely to bite anything than a python on solid ground.  Or in a tree.  Are you going to stop climbing trees?
> 
> Dave



We took a swamp tour about 18 months after Katrina and were the only ones on the boat so were able to talk quite a bit with the tour guide. When he told us a snake had dropped out of a tree and into the boat on two occasions, that was it for me!


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## pedro47 (Aug 13, 2019)

There are so many snakes and alligators in the sunshine state now; that I am loving HHI, Myrtle Beach, WMBG, and San Diego more and more in my traveling time. LOL


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## Passepartout (Aug 13, 2019)

There is a lot to like about Ireland.  No snakes being among them.


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## AJCts411 (Aug 13, 2019)

These reptiles occur due to scientific study, the irresponsible pet owner...not the origin but could be a aggravating factor....early 1990s. Hurricane Andrew devastated Florida in 1992, and it damaged quite a few zoos, pet stores, exotic animal warehouses, and wildlife refuges in the process. Many of the escaped animals -- ranging from monkeys to mountain lions -- were rounded up after the storm. Some, unfortunately, were put down. But many animals _eluded _capture. It has been documented that a large (but unknown) number of Burmese pythons were "liberated" by Hurricane Andrew, escaping into the Florida Everglades and other parts of the state...late 1990's was the first sighting of these snakes.


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## pedro47 (Aug 13, 2019)

Is it true that Burmese pythons are causing problems for the other animals in the Glades?


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## "Roger" (Aug 13, 2019)

pedro47 said:


> Is it true that Burmese pythons are causing problems for the other animals in the Glades?


Absolutely. If you Google you will find many articles on the topic. Here is a short one...  Link

For a couple of years, they had a contest where Python hunters were offered prizes as to who could capture the most pythons in a week. With something like ten thousand pythons in the Everglades, the contestants, often very knowledgeable people with regard to the behavior of these critters, were only able to capture a couple of hundred. The organizers of the contest knew in advance that they would not find and kill that many pythons. The contest was merely meant to call attention to the problem.


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## DaveNV (Aug 13, 2019)

pedro47 said:


> Is it true that Burmese pythons are causing problems for the other animals in the Glades?



I'd think so.  I used to keep snakes as pets. 

Pythons will eat just about anything they can grab, if they can constrict on it, kill it, and get it down their gullet.  Mammals and rodents are especially tasty to them.  Pythons are "live bearing," which means the mother doesn't lay eggs - the babies are fully functional when they emerge from the mother.  Burmese pythons can have as many as 100 offspring a year, and they grow fast.  And every one of those babies will be born hungry.  As they grow, their need for larger prey increases.  In a place like the Everglades, they have an ideal environment to establish themselves.  It can definitely be a problem for native species populations - as the young are eaten, the snakes grow, and larger prey is taken.  Get the larger snakes closer to civilization, and pets are then on the menu.

Dave


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## "Roger" (Aug 13, 2019)

More on the Python Challenge (the hunting contest). Here is a link to the results of the 2013 contest. Note that there were 1600 people who participated in the month long event (not one week as I previously posted). With $1500 going to the winner, he captured a paltry 15 pythons, the second place contestant, 5.


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## MULTIZ321 (Aug 13, 2019)

Update on Florida Python Elimination Program.

https://www.sfwmd.gov/our-work/python-program.


Richard


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## moonstone (Aug 13, 2019)

Passepartout said:


> That's it. I'm done. No getting near water in Florida for me. Nope. Uh-uh. Not with snakes in the water. Not me.
> 
> Jim




Me too!   It was bad enough we had to worry about sharks, now snakes as well!  I'll stick to swimming in the pool! 


~Diane


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## DaveNV (Aug 13, 2019)

moonstone said:


> Me too!   It was bad enough we had to worry about sharks, now snakes as well!  I'll stick to swimming in the pool!
> 
> 
> ~Diane



Make sure there isn't an alligator resting on the bottom before you dive in.  

Dave


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## clifffaith (Aug 13, 2019)

DaveNW said:


> I'd think so.  I used to keep snakes as pets.
> 
> Pythons will eat just about anything they can grab, if they can constrict on it, kill it, and get it down their gullet.  Mammals and rodents are especially tasty to them.  Pythons are "live bearing," which means the mother doesn't lay eggs - the babies are fully functional when they emerge from the mother.  Burmese pythons can have as many as 100 offspring a year, and they grow fast.  And every one of those babies will be born hungry.  As they grow, their need for larger prey increases.  In a place like the Everglades, they have an ideal environment to establish themselves.  It can definitely be a problem for native species populations - as the young are eaten, the snakes grow, and larger prey is taken.  Get the larger snakes closer to civilization, and pets are then on the menu.
> 
> Dave



Re: live birth. Richard's second post mentions an extra bounty for pythons caught guarding eggs.


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## geist1223 (Aug 13, 2019)

Just another reason to add to the List on why not to visit Florida.


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## Jimster (Aug 13, 2019)

I heard one estimate that said that because of the pythons, almost 90% of other animals have been wiped out in the Everglades.  It is particularly bad among the bird population.  For some reason, I don’t think of Pythons as bird eaters but it is absolutely true.

I was on Bohol, in the Philippines in a town called Python and they have an exhibit of what they say is the world’s biggest Python which is over 25 feet long.


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## bbodb1 (Aug 13, 2019)

DaveNW said:


> Seriously?  You know snakes everywhere swim, right?  Not just Florida. A python swimming in Florida is less likely to bite anything than a python on solid ground.  Or in a tree.  Are you going to stop climbing trees?
> 
> Dave




I'm thinkin' the chances of seeing snakes swimming (much less surviving) in the wonderful waters of Eye-Duh-Hoe are just a bit less than in Floor-E-Duh!


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## bbodb1 (Aug 13, 2019)

DaveNW said:


> Make sure there isn't an alligator resting on the bottom before you dive in.
> 
> Dave



You're a bad man, Dave!

...but you should have told them to check the skimmers for spiders while you're at it!


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## bbodb1 (Aug 13, 2019)

geist1223 said:


> Just another reason to add to the List on why not to visit Florida.



...and/or retire there!


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## moonstone (Aug 13, 2019)

DaveNW said:


> Make sure there isn't an alligator resting on the bottom before you dive in.
> 
> Dave



And another reason why I don't go in! Even at our winter place in Corozal Belize there are crocodiles in the bay since it is not full Caribbean salt water due to the many rivers emptying into the bay. A friend of ours spotted one creeping up on he and his toddler who were sitting about 10 feet from shore in about 6 inches of water last winter. As I said before,  I'll stick to the swimming pools!

~Diane


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## Jimster (Aug 14, 2019)

Crocs and snakes get into swimming pools too


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## moonstone (Aug 14, 2019)

Jimster said:


> Crocs and snakes get into swimming pools too



But at least they'd be in a confined space and very easy to see & avoid!

~Diane


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## "Roger" (Aug 22, 2019)

I realize that this thread had run its course, but here is an extensive current article on the python crisis. Really bad...


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## MULTIZ321 (Aug 22, 2019)

"Roger" said:


> I realize that this thread had run its course, but here is an extensive current article on the python crisis. Really bad...


Hi Roger.

The link is missing.

Richard


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## "Roger" (Aug 22, 2019)

MULTIZ321 said:


> Hi Roger.
> 
> The link is missing.
> 
> Richard


Apparently it got swallowed up by one of those Burmese pythons. I told you that they were bad news.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/22/florida-python-action-team-snake-epidemic


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## MULTIZ321 (Sep 28, 2019)

11 foot python found swimming in Biscayne Bay.


https://wsvn-com.cdn.ampproject.org...1-foot-python-found-swimming-in-biscayne-bay/.


Richard


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