Researchers in Florida are using robot rabbits that mimic real ones to lure and trap invasive Burmese pythons in the Everglades, aiming to protect native wildlife from these voracious predators. The robotic decoys are part of an innovative effort to control the python population, which has significantly impacted local ecosystems, with thousands of snakes already removed since 2000. The project is still in early stages but shows promise as a new tool in wildlife management.
Scientists have discovered that Burmese pythons avoid calcium overload from digesting large prey by using specialized intestinal cells with crypts that store excess calcium and phosphorus, explaining how they safely digest bones and prey as large as cattle.
A group of Florida men captured a massive 17-foot, 200-pound Burmese python in the Everglades, making it the second-heaviest python ever removed from Florida. The men, who encountered the snake while driving back from fishing, teamed up to wrangle and hold it until a game warden arrived to euthanize it. The Burmese pythons are considered a threat to native wildlife and are prohibited as pets in Florida. They have established populations in and around the Everglades, causing harm to the ecosystem and endangering native species.
Snake wranglers in the Florida Everglades captured a massive Burmese python weighing 198 pounds and measuring 17 feet 2 inches, making it the second heaviest python ever recorded in Florida. The snake had consumed a white-tailed deer before being caught. Burmese pythons, originally from Southeast Asia, were introduced to Florida as pets and have become an invasive species, posing a threat to local wildlife and ecosystems. Conservation efforts involve capturing and removing these pythons to protect native animals.
A group of python hunters in Florida captured one of the heaviest snakes ever caught in the state, a female Burmese python measuring over 17 feet long and weighing 198 pounds. The hunters found remains of a deer in her stomach, and they were glad to have removed her from the Everglades to protect the local wildlife. The python is the second heaviest snake officially caught in Florida, with the record being a 215-pound python caught in June 2022.
A 19-foot, 125-pound Burmese python, the longest ever captured in Florida, was caught in Naples by a group of individuals, some of whom had never been python-hunting before. The snake put up a fight, requiring a change in technique to safely capture it. The Southwest Florida Conservancy has measured the snake and plans to conduct tests to learn more about it.
A Florida alligator was caught on camera eating an invasive Burmese python in the Everglades. Experts say that while both animals can eat each other, an adult male alligator is king of the swamp and has the advantage in a fight. Burmese pythons are considered invasive to the Everglades, and it is legal to humanely kill them.
