Wildlife
officials have captured a 17-foot-long (5.1 meters) Burmese python and a
mother-to-be in Florida's Big Cypress National Preserve — the longest python
ever found in the preserve, which neighbors the Everglades.
But even
though her size and her weight of 140 lbs. (63 kilograms) likely puts her in
the top 10% of the largest wild pythons in
Florida, the number of eggs found inside her — 73 in all — is absolutely
flooring, said David Penning, an assistant professor of biology at Missouri
Southern State University, who was not involved with the snake's capture.
"I
would say that's far above average," Penning told Live Science. "A
normal quantity to expect is probably a couple dozen, maybe 40 or 50. And that
would be a good year if you were trying to breed these animals." [Image
Gallery: Snakes of the World]
Burmese
pythons (Python bivittatus)
are an invasive species in Florida. They likely got into the wild not only
because of pet owners who decided to release them, but also from hurricanes
that aided in their escape from captivity. Given that they're invasive, why are
pythons so successful in the Sunshine State?
Mothers
such as this one are part of the answer, Penning said. Now that it's
springtime, mother snakes are laying eggs. These 4- to 5-inch-long (10 to 13
centimeters) oval eggs take up so much space inside the mother, that she has to
stop eating because she literally can't fit anything
else inside her body, Penning said. Even her organs get scrunched and pushed
out of the way.
"It's
impressive," he said. "It's like shoving a bunch of pool balls into a
sock, but there's just more than what seems like [the snake] can fit."
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