About The Burmese PythonThe Burmese Python is one of the largest snakes on Earth, that is able to reach 23 feet (7 meters) and weigh up till 200 pounds (90 kilograms). They have patterned skin, and a rapid growth rate. When they are young, they spend most of their time in the trees, but as they grow, their size and weight makes it hard for them to climb trees. Thus, they transition to ground-dwelling. These Pythons are good swimmers, and they can stay underwater for up to 30 minutes before they have to come up for air. These carnivores survive by eating small and large mammals and birds. They have poor eyesight, so they stalk prey using chemoreceptor in their tongues, and heat sensors along their jaws. These invasive predators kill their prey by surrounding their bodies around the animals squeezing them to death. They don't produce venom, and hence biting their prey won't help them a lot.
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Effect in the Everglades |
Increasing population of Pythons in the Everglades poses a major threat to the native wildlife; it is causing a decline in mammal and bird populations. Research before the year 2000 shows that nocturnal mammals were regularly found at night in great numbers, but data collected from 2003 to 2011 shows that the number of raccoon, bobcats, opossums, and rabbits spotted has dropped 90% or more since the pythons were introduced into Everglades. The Burmese pythons are on the top predator in the food chain due to the lack of natural predators. This puts a lot of stress on the prey populations, and threatens to cause an imbalanced food chain where Burmese pythons just increase in number but the other prey population will decrease by a lot.
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History of the Python |
Burmese pythons are native to southern China, Burma, Indochina, Thailand, and the Malay Archipelago. Burmese pythons were introduced to Florida as a unique pet, but as the pets grew and irresponsible owners didn't want them anymore, these pets were released into the wild; where they were able to thrive and turn into a huge ecological problem today.
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