Our Herp Class: Burmese Python Challenge in Florida

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Burmese Python Challenge in Florida

In Florida the burmese python has become "public enemy number one" for several reasons. The main reason these non-native snakes are not well received is due to the fact that they are hurting the everglades. Even though these snakes thrive in the everglades they have been hurting this ecosystem. One way they have been doing this is by decreasing the populations of small native animals. As a result of the burmese python being so adaptive and somewhat destructive they have been listed as an invasive species. Because of this the Florida fish and wildlife conservation commission and their partners have opened up a hunting season for the burmese pythons. This hunting season opens in January and lasts the full month. The team who catches the most gets a reward of $1500 and the person that catches the longest receives a $1000 reward. In this past season the Python Challenge harvested 68 of these pythons. The hunters try to find and capture the snakes by driving and walking throughout the everglades. When they find one of these snakes they capture them and store them by putting them in pillow cases for transport. This is a common procedure for handling snakes.

I think this challenge is important in controlling the population of these non-native snakes. If the snakes are allowed to proliferate and to carry on like they have been in the past, then they will have a detrimental effect on the ecosystem. This could include disappearance or the decline of some native species. They have been seen to struggle with alligators and even eat them, which could lead and contribute to the disappearance of these alligators. I believe that this constrictor should be eradicated from the everglades if it is even possible. With all the profound effects that the snake has on the ecosystem, it would be for the greater good to get rid of as many or all of them as we can.

I believe that people should be knowledgable about the types of pets that they get. I say this because this is part of the reason why this non-native species has invaded the everglades. People would buy the snakes not realizing how big they would get or could not provide the appropriate accommodations for the reptile. Then because of them not being able to take care of the snake they would release them into the wild, not realizing the detrimental effects that this would have on the Florida everglades. Eventually there were enough from snakes that had either escaped or freed into the wild that they started to reproduce. If the people were more knowledgable about them and if they were kept in better places in which they could not escape, then this problem might not be a problem.