7th Python Found in Upper Florida Keys
The seventh — and largest — Burmese python to make its way into the Florida Keys since the exotic constrictors were discovered here in April was found dead on U.S. 1 at Mile Marker 112 last week.
The snake, measuring longer than 10 feet, has added to officials’ recent concerns about the invasive predator slithering its way into the island chain — and its endangered species habitats. Steve Klett, manager of the Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge, said he worries a breeding pair will establish itself here, which could wipe out the population of endangered species such as the Key Largo wood rat. To reach 8 feet in length, a python would have to consume about 75 to 80 wood rats, he said.
A new law that went into effect Jan. 1 will not help the immediate situation, but could curb the problem in the future. It requires people who buy an exotic reptile to pay a $100 fee and have a 2-centimeter microchip with their identification implanted under the reptile’s skin. South Florida has experienced an influx of the snakes as owners illegally release their unwanted pets into the wild, intentionally or by accident.
The six previously found constrictors have averaged a little over 7 feet long. They have been found near the Key Largo School, Card Sound Road Bridge and in the Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Botanical State Park, across C.R. 905 from the Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge. One was a live python in the state park that had devoured a wood rat.
Tags: Python