
The Invasion of Giant Pythons Threatening Florida - 80mph
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/snakes-ate-florida-180972534/
======
Merrill
I was involved in management of a small natural preserve. One of the
activities was to control some of the more pestilential invasive species, such
as Oriental bittersweet. But without a huge expensive effort, invasives really
can't be eradicated or even very well controlled. I'd estimate that upwards of
a fourth of the plant mass was invasive species, from allianthus to wisteria.

In the end, I decided it didn't really matter - that these new species were
simply doing what all organisms do, which is to compete to survive and
reproduce. The fact that they are doing so in a new ecological setting is just
what evolution predicts.

~~~
pvaldes
> I was involved in management of a small natural preserve... In the end, I
> decided it [management of a small natural preserve] didn't really matter

Therefore you shouldn't be doing this job. Is as simple as that

~~~
dang
Please don't cross into personal attack in HN comments. That's not why we're
here.

[https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)

~~~
fouric
How is that comment a personal attack? I don't see any references, critical or
otherwise, made to Merrill's motives or character.

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jxramos
"...and their ability to extend their windpipe, snorkel-like, outside their
mouths, so they can breathe while their mouths are entirely occupied with
swallowing"

this is a pretty incredible fact about pythons!

~~~
mkl
There's video here: [https://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/news/how-snake-
breathe...](https://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/news/how-snake-breathes-
while-eating-huge-meals/3152640/)

------
jxramos
I'm dreaming of a remote game where players fly a fleet of drones to go hunt
for pythons in the everglades.

~~~
keenmaster
An infrared camera drone with AI should be able to identify giant pythons and
other invasive species. Someone make it.

~~~
jmpman
How do infrared cameras do with cold blooded animals?

~~~
jxramos
I was wondering that myself. Looks like they can resolve...

[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wYxiffT7izY](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wYxiffT7izY)

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tshanmu
There was a programme where they got the Irula tribe (with help from the
reptile man - Rom Whitaker[2]) from India to trap the pythons, which was
touted to be a success as well[1]. Not sure what happened to it?

[1]
[https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/environment/article12...](https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/environment/article128233064.html)
[2]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romulus_Whitaker](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romulus_Whitaker)

~~~
indogooner
Does not seem like it was remotely successful. From [1] - "Probably the most
audacious effort came last year when two renowned snake catchers from India’s
mountain-dwelling Irula tribe chanted their way across the Everglades for two
months. They bagged 33 pythons. But that figure, like the 1,000-plus snakes
killed to date in civilian hunting programmes, is a drop in the ocean."

[1] [https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/aug/25/snakes-
flori...](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/aug/25/snakes-florida-
hybrid-pythons-super-breed-threat-danger)

------
simonhamp
My wife and I have just done a great little tour of an eastern part of the
Everglades from Gator Park, and the airboat captain talked about the python
problem.

There were audible gasps when he mentioned that it’s thought the pythons are
responsible for a 90% reduction in indigenous species over the past 20 years.

When I asked him what they’re doing about the problem, he didn’t seem to know
much, so this article is both very timely and hugely enlightening!

It also suggests that this topic needs a lot more awareness.

------
youeseh
Are they edible?

I'll answer my own question: [https://www.outsideonline.com/1794941/florida-
officals-dont-...](https://www.outsideonline.com/1794941/florida-officals-
dont-eat-python-meat)

No, no you can't because Burmese pythons have a very high mercury content.

~~~
MrBuddyCasino
Wow. Yeah, don’t eat those:

“For some reason, the pythons that are coming out of here, they have mercury
concentrations higher than mine waste, a mercury mine,” said Everglades
superintendent Dan Kimball. “According to (USGS scientist Dave Krabbenhoft),
they’ve never found anything that has this high of mercury levels that’s still
alive. It is amazing.”

~~~
baxtr
Sounds like a great way to collect Mercury in your local neighborhood

~~~
MrBuddyCasino
I wonder where its all coming from. Just bio-accumulation? But yeah sounds
like a nice way to remove some mercury from your local ecosystem. Then sell it
as "snake silver" to esoterically leaning folks.

~~~
baxtr
Nice business idea! Now the only thing we need are some giant pythons...

------
foxyv
In addition, you can't eat the suckers because they accumulate mercury!

[https://www.outsideonline.com/1794941/florida-officals-
dont-...](https://www.outsideonline.com/1794941/florida-officals-dont-eat-
python-meat)

------
BurningFrog
So what will happen is a new ecological balance will develop.

The snakes will hit the limit of their expansion.

The prey animals will develop ways to avoid the snakes.

The area will be forever changed, but just as alive as it was.

~~~
everdrive
But not really because people will keep changing things at a pace greater than
natural selection and evolution.

~~~
BurningFrog
Probably.

This will in turn evolve a fauna that is well adapted to change.

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dillonmckay
I read this article in the magazine, and towards the end, there is a mention
of two Pythons found alive in the Gulf of Mexico, at least 5 miles from shore.

~~~
lonnyk
I may be misunderstanding something you’re saying, but this is also in the
online article...

~~~
dillonmckay
I did not read the online article, so I did not want to assume the content was
identical.

Regardless, pythons living in saltwater off the coast of Florida, has been
added to my list of fears.

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tsmarsh
I think this is how Florida wanted to go. Its its time.

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nakedrobot2
this seems like an interesting project for genetic engineering - to create
pythons which breed only sterile pythons...?

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onetimemanytime
unleash the robots. Otherwise it's impossible, they reproduce like there's no
tomorrow and they have no natural predators. Anything that harms them probably
ruins the environment for others

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savant_penguin
pip uninstall Florida

~~~
_audakel
apt-get remove python

~~~
IgorPartola
Just install anaconda. What could go wrong?

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siphon22
Who would win? A hundred giant pythons or 1 Florida Man?

~~~
darkpuma
I think even one on one, a sufficiently large constrictor could take down
(asphyxiate, if not eat) a full sized floridian. But that's not accounting for
tool use, which changes the matter completely.

~~~
nickserv
The Burmese pythons in the 'glades have been known to eat alligators.

If you've never seen a large constrictor grab prey it's easy to dismiss them
as slow and easily avoidable. But these strike with incredible speed, and can
wrap themselves completely around their prey in a second or two. Then the
squeezing starts... A knife or a gun is only helpful if you can reach it and
use it quickly enough.

But, when not hungry, especially if digesting a large meal, they tend to hide,
don't really move and are pretty much harmless.

So it really depends if the snake is in hunting mode or not.

~~~
Fjolsvith
The trick is to not look like food.

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inflatableDodo
I'm betting on Florida.

------
ars
Attach small bombs designed to go off only when squeezed or digested to
rabbits and set them loose. (Include radio trackers.)

------
cutler
There have been many reports of bloat recently in Python. Now we have hard
evidence.

------
sorokod
I dislike the title of this post which is different from the title of the
article it links to. Pythons are not evil and they are not good, and a python
definitely doesn't invade anything.

A bunch of morones with more money then sense and an infantile itch to
scratch, decided that importing predators from a different continent is s good
idea and now the state of Florida is facing the consequences. Not a snappy
headline, but this is what this is.

~~~
Tomte
<title>The Invasion of Giant Pythons Threatening Florida | Science |
Smithsonian</title>

You're mistaken. The top heading differs from the title, but that's not
unusual.

