Glad to be home

Posted on May 17, 2008

After finding this information, I’m kinda glad to be home from Florida, though admittedly I wasn’t hanging out in the water or marshland.

It’s rather eerie to know there as many as 30,000 pythons on the loose in Florida.

Giant pythons capable of swallowing most any small animal and even smallish alligators are rapidly making their home in south Florida with the very real threat of moving into other states such s Georgia, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

The pythons thriving in Florida are mostly Burmese pythons that were once kept as pets and then turned loose.

From 2002-2005, just over 200 were caught by state authorities, but in 2006-2007 the number has swelled to more than 400.

The largest python caught so far in Florida measured 16.4 feet and weighed 154 pounds.

Pythons will prey on cats, dogs, rabbits, foxes, squirrels, raccoons and even alligators, allowing them to thrive in a variety of environments.

After populating the Florida Everglades — a vast marshland — the giant python is now spreading across the rest of the peninsula. Females may produce 60-80 eggs a year, so populations can spread pretty quickly.

So, I guess I need to say…”watch your step”.