
Bloodsucking worms from pythons are killing native Florida snakes, study says - DoreenMichele
https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/environment/2019/04/11/pythons-spread-parasite-florida-native-snakes/3435198002/
======
degenerate
At first I thought the invasive pythons were being killed off by the parasite,
which was great news, but the parasite is instead killing _native_ Florida
snakes, according to the article (edit: thanks DoreenMichele).

The Burmese pythons are the only predators that can kill Florida alligators.
It's thought that owners of pet pythons released their snakes into the
everglades when they didn't want them anymore through the 80s/90s, and the
population became a problem starting in the 2000s:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burmese_pythons_in_Florida](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burmese_pythons_in_Florida)

What also might have contributed to the boom was Hurrican Andrew in 1992, when
exotic wildlife sanctuaries and zoos in Dade County got destroyed and animals
escaped:

[https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-
xpm-1992-09-20-19922640...](https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-
xpm-1992-09-20-1992264001-story.html) (1992 article)

~~~
riffraff
I love how one of the proposed solutions to the problem is "introducing
jaguars".

While I understand how that makes some sense, it is hilariously similar to the
Simpsons' episode where flying lizard erase pigeons and are eliminated by
introducing snakes which are eliminated by introducing snake-eating gorillas..

~~~
bpicolo
The Florida panther has had big problems not getting driven to endangerment. I
can't imagine jaguars fairing much better

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js2
The Economist recently did a piece on the efforts to contain the python. Seems
like a losing battle:

[https://www.1843magazine.com/features/the-men-fighting-
flori...](https://www.1843magazine.com/features/the-men-fighting-floridas-
python-epidemic)

HN discussion:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19178296](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19178296)

Recently caught 17 foot python with 73 (!) eggs:

[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-
canada-47851248](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47851248)

~~~
FartyMcFarter
> "But laying their hands on fast-moving, highly dangerous, camouflaged
> reptiles in a swamp that extends for thousands of square miles is about as
> easy as it sounds."

Yeah, this doesn't sound super promising unless they find a very scalable
solution :(

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dmix
Somewhat off-topic but I was just reading about Tegus running rampant in
Florida. It must be tough running the various municipalities down there
considering there are so many species who could flourish there. You always
hear about the Pythons but there are quite a few species who thrive.

[https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/05/science/a-lizard-
interlop...](https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/05/science/a-lizard-interloper-
presents-challenge-in-florida.html)

[https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/local-news/florida-
declar...](https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/local-news/florida-declares-
open-season-on-tegu-lizards)

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code_duck
“There are relatives of this parasite that people have gotten by eating raw
snakes”

Anyone have more info on people who eat raw snake in the US?

~~~
sandworm101
Google "florida man".

~~~
code_duck
Oh, I noticed.

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mrfusion
Unpopular opinion incoming. But why should one snakes survival be more
important than another?

~~~
rajacombinator
When one of those snakes is notorious for eating humans it’s reasonable to
deprioritize their survival.

~~~
bpicolo
[https://www.livescience.com/44033-florida-pythons-rarely-
att...](https://www.livescience.com/44033-florida-pythons-rarely-attack-
people.html)

> The authors of the study[0] said they could only find one report of a free-
> ranging Burmese python fatality: the death of an infant in Hong Kong about a
> century ago.

[0]:
[https://wildlife.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/wsb...](https://wildlife.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/wsb.413)

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crimsonalucard
I thought it was about a computer worm written in python.

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veryworried
This isn’t so bad if it kills off water moccasins which will definitely kill
you if they bite you. They like to hide in bushes or under trash cans and can
easily lash out at you or a child if you get too close. A python is much
easier to avoid, and generally restricts itself to the Everglades.

~~~
distant_hat
Water moccasins are cool snakes and it would be sad if they disappear.

~~~
veryworried
Not when they bite your toddler and it dies damn near instantly.

~~~
detaro
They apparently kill less than a person per year, so that's unlikely to happen
luckily.

