With the advent of the modern world--say after 1492 or so- and the many resultant migrations, exiles, conquests, immigrations, colonializations, enslavements, and easier travel, there are many animals and plants that are now found in places that they shouldn't be. Well maybe, "shouldn't" is the wrong word. But sometimes flora and fauna pop up in regions where they have no place in the food chain or no natural predators.
These organisms, intent on survival, make their own niche, which invariably causes problems for local flora and fauna. We've heard urban fairy tales of people flushing crocodiles down the toilet only to have said crocodiles survive to become deadly predators hungry for human flesh. I think I've seen a few low budget movies with that premise.
Anyway it's not a fantasy that in the Florida Everglades, people have accidentally, purposely, and almost always stupidly released animals into the environment that have destroyed much of the other flora and fauna, thus worsening the area for everyone. The latest example of this is the Burmese python.
A team searching under dense vegetation in the pine flatwoods of the Everglades late last year came upon a slithering sight, the likes of which no one had found before in those parts: 215 pounds of snake. It was the largest Burmese python ever found in Florida, breaking a record set by the invasive species in 2016 at 140 pounds, according to the Conservancy of Southwest Florida.The reptile had 122 eggs inside her, another record for the state. The search was like a stakeout. The team tracked its target for weeks using a “scout snake,” a male with a tracking device, which was looking to mate. The researchers had to approach at just the right time and angle.
An intern with the team, Kyle Findley, dodged a punch from the snake’s body, but Ian Easterling, a biologist, wasn’t so lucky. The 215-pound Burmese python hit him in the face with her balled-up tail. Burmese pythons, originally a species from Southeast Asia, actively threaten the native flora and fauna of the Florida ecosystem, where they have thrived, Mr. Bartoszek said.
The snake has become a predator to many other animals, particularly the white-tailed deer found in wooded areas throughout the United States. Dwindling deer populations have also increased the threat to the Florida panther, which feeds on the deer, he said. This subspecies of cougar, also Florida’s state animal, is now endangered. The populations of raccoons, rabbits, possums, birds and alligators in the wetlands have all decreased along with the deer and panthers as the pythons have claimed more territory. LINK
Imagine walking out in your backyard and stumbling over a 215 lb snake that decides you or your dog look like a good snack. Such is life. I can certainly understand why conservation and environmental groups care about the future of the Everglades if the Burmese python is allowed to thrive.
