"There are between 100,000 and 300,000 of these snakes in the region – and they can swallow a small deer whole. What can Florida do about this threat to biodiversity?"
"An invasive predator that can grow up to 20ft, weigh over 100kg and devour prey six times its size – it is enough to make anyone’s skin crawl. That’s what residents of southern Florida have been struggling with for the past few decades, with the rapid growth of the Burmese python population in the Everglades.
In a recent study in Reptiles and Amphibians, a team of researchers considered the maximal gape of three Burmese pythons – in other words, they measured how wide the snakes could open their mouths. The smallest of the pythons had been found consuming a 35kg deer. So perhaps it isn’t surprising the researchers discovered that all three snakes had impressive maximal gapes of 26cm (10 inches), 1.5in wider than previous studies had suggested and similar to the diameter of a standard dinner plate.
There are no other apex predators in the Everglades region meaning these invasive pythons, with their insatiable appetites, are wreaking havoc on one of America’s biodiversity hotspots. A study from 2012 found native populations of raccoons, opossums, and marsh rabbits had been all but wiped out since 1997.
Tales of how the species (full name: Python molurus bivittatus), which is native to Southeast Asia, came to be in Southern Florida include a compelling one of a dark and stormy night."
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