Rat population thrives as pythons eliminate predators in Everglades.

A new study by the University of Florida shows that invasive Burmese pythons in the Everglades are killing off predatory mammals such as foxes and bobcats and otters, but not depleting ample cotton rat populations. Pythons, brought to Florida via the exotic pet trade in the 1970s, have thrived in the wild, establishing breeding populations, growing to as large at 18 feet, and wreaking havoc on the Everglades ecosystem. The study found that the rats survive at about the same rate regardless of pythons, but that pythons change who’s around to kill them.