Burmese Pythons are another exotic invasive species that are overpopulating Florida that were recently featured on Animal Planet. These snakes got here from pet owners who did not want them anymore and from damaged zoos, pet stores, exotic animal warehouses, and wildlife refuges in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew.
The climate and ecosystem of the Everglades are ideally suited for the Burmese Python because it is hot and humid. The Everglades also offers the snakes plenty of prey to sustain them.
The number of pythons in Florida alarms scientists because there is nothing to keep this snake’s population under control. They will cause significant decline in native species in Florida. Some scientists estimate there may hundreds of thousands of these snakes within the state. A female Burmese python can lay more than 30 eggs at a time. Larger females can easily exceed these numbers. One female captured in the Everglades was found to have 85 eggs developing inside her. A well-fed female python will generally reach sexual maturity in a few years. On top of that, these snakes can live for more than 20 years in the wild, and healthy females can reproduce annually for much of that lifespan. Now take that reproductive capacity and spread it over the last 17 years or so, when these snakes are believed to have entered the Everglades in large numbers.
No comments:
Post a Comment