Burmese pythons that first escaped from local pet shops 17 years ago are thriving in the Florida Everglades.
By Nick Allen
Published: 10:27AM BST 16 Jul 2009
The snakes have spread in the national park and now number more than 100,000. They are now severely threatening a unique eco-system, according to the Independent.
Senator Bill Nelson, a Democrat, said: “They are threatening endangered wildlife there and Lord forbid a visitor in the Everglades ever encounters one. There’s only one way to stop this: kill the snakes.”
Last week a 17ft python broke out of its tank at a home in Orlando and strangled a two-year-old child sleeping in her cot.
Others that have escaped from homes have been blamed for attacking wading birds, raccoons, and deer.
Dozens of the snakes escaped from pet shops during Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Their natural habitat is the tropical jungles and swamps of Burma,
Tom Rahill, a snake hunter, told the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel that he tries to catch them at night using a pole with a loop at the end.
He said: “It explodes with activity and generally wraps around the catch pole. You take a catch bag, like a laundry bag, and wrestle the bag around the snake and close the bag. It’s amazing the power these snakes have. I grabbed one and it dragged me into the water.”
Peta, the animal rights group, says the snakes “ended up in Florida through no fault of their own”.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/5840926/Burmese-pythons-thrive-in-Florida-Everglades.html
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment
You only need to enter your comment once! Comments will appear once they have been moderated. This is so as to stop the would-be comedian who has been spamming the comments here with inane and often offensive remarks. You know who you are!