An interesting article about pythons and their impact on FL

[Dani]

I had read about the article regarding the study of the animals on the roads but I hadn't heard about the rabbit gps collar study. Very interesting information and very sad. What startled me was the idea that pythons could potentially move north as far as SC. I thought they were a lot more temperature sensitive, but perhaps the coastal areas would be warm enough for them to survive. I sure hope it doesn't happen, since it's bad enough in the everglades and south florida but unless something very drastic is done I can't see anyone controlling their spread very well.





The invasive Burmese Python population in the Everglades has become a large-scale issue for Florida’s native wildlife. The Burmese Python can grow up to 23 feet in length and weigh as much as 200 pounds. According to the Florida Museum, these invasive predators are targeting several native, threatened, and endangered species, thus further complicating their chances of recovery.
Carla Dove, Head of the National Museum of Natural History’s Feather Identification Lab, has partnered with the Everglades National Park in combating the overwhelming python population. Dove is a skilled Ornithologist, a scientist who specializes in birds, and has taken on the task of identifying bird species found in the stomachs of pythons captured in the Everglades. To date, Dove has identified more than thirty different species of fowl, including the wood stork, limpkin, and the great blue heron. The loss of endangered species to predation is a natural occurrence; however, the rate and aggression at which the Burmese Python kills is adversely affecting Florida’s habitat.

A great egret wading in the Everglades National Park. Photo by Rodney Cammauf, courtesy of Nation Wildlife Federation.

Dove’s findings correlate with those of the National Park Service, which reports a dramatic drop in several other animal populations that live in the Everglades. According to the National Park Service, rabbits, alligators, bobcats, and adult deer have fallen prey to the Burmese Python. To gauge the true nature of the problem, researchers with the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Florida radio-tracked ninety-five marsh rabbits from 2012-2013. By the end of the study, nearly 80 percent of the rabbits were found inside the bellies of Burmese Pythons. Another grim sign of the area’s python crisis is the lack of nocturnal animal activity on the roads. Researchers working within the Everglades conducted a study of the nighttime activity along the roadways from 2003-2011. The study showed a decrease of raccoon sightings by 99.3 percent, opossums by 98.9 percent, and bobcats by 87.5 percent. Another concerning finding was the complete absence of rabbit activity along the roadways.

The National Park Service estimates that the Burmese Python population, within the Everglades, has grown to over 100,000 strong. Further complicating the situation is the snake’s ability to lay 35-100 eggs annually. Based on these findings, many believe that the Burmese Python is a permanent resident of the Sunshine State. Measures have been taken to cull the creature in hopes that Florida’s delicate ecosystem could be restored to its original state; however, to date, all attempts have failed. Florida wildlife conservationists continue to fight to minimize the effects of the invasive species and to impede the Burmese Python’s migration further north into the state. The task has proven challenging, as Burmese Pythons have already been found in small numbers in the Keys and in northern counties. The Burmese Python could travel as far north as South Carolina, according to researcher Michael Dorcas of Davidson College.

Hunter catching a Burmese python in Davie, Florida at a Python Patrol training. Photo taken by Liz Barraco, courtesy of Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
If the Burmese Python population continues to expand, it will undoubtedly cause never-before seen damage to Florida’s delicate ecological habitat. In efforts to release the Burmese Python’s grip on Florida’s landscape, the Florida Wildlife Commission (FWC) has issued temporary permits to snake hunters. As an added incentive, the FWC also offers cash prizes to encourage participation. For more information on python hunting, visit the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Python Patrol. For those less adventurous types, donations can be made to Nature Conservancy or by reporting invasive species sightings at Ive Got 1.

The article came from:

http://www.theinertia.com/environment/floridas-wildlife-continues-to-suffer-as-the-burmese-python-tightens-its-grip/

 

[Carl]

Scary stuff.
Sounds like even gators are not coping.
We could easily see a complete ecosystem collapse down there.

 

[Eric Patterson]

Scary stuff.
Sounds like even gators are not coping.
We could easily see a complete ecosystem collapse down there.

Is it possible we will see a simple Volterra predator prey relationship? In other words regular predator/prey population cycles as predators over consume prey until predators run out of food leading to decline in their population allowing prey to rebound. Then as prey populations rebound and peak the predators find ample food which causes their populations to increase and start the cycle over.

Eric

 

[Kris Schaumburg]

i wonder what effect the lack of small mammals has on the panthers

 

[Carl]

Given pythons low caloric needs, the ability to "go dormant" and their long lives, I am not sure that the typical predator-prey model will hold up.

The impact to the Florida Panther is a huge concern, their prey base is pretty much disappearing. FL panthers are barely holding on as it is, if the python impacts are as bad as this indicates, it will probably mean the loss of the subspecies.

 

[Dani]

I dunno Eric. My very limited understanding of the predator prey relationship you talk about is that it's usually between 2 species right? Like foxes and rabbits? I'd think that the problem is that pythons eat everything (to include other predators and wouldn't it be nice if they ate more of each other). So, if you looked at "everything" as the other half of the equation of the 2 species predator prey relationship....how much of the total animal population has to crash before the python population starts crashing? And will that total collapse of "everything" still have enough critters to be able to repopulate?

Kris, I'm sure it's as harmful to the panthers as it is the bobcats and coyotes. The "positive" for the panthers is that there has been some northward migration of the cats. Not a lot at this point, but there has been at least one female, with cubs, north of the Caloosahatchee River (which for a long time seemed like a boundary the cats were unwilling to cross) this past spring. So that's a very good thing, but I'm sure they'll be a population that is very slow to grow if they are able to continue making their way north to some of the larger National Forests/Parks.

 

[Rob_F]

The question/answer will likely be: how do bunnies get sacrificed to interrupt the life cycle? Either being implanted with poisons or sterilizers or both, BUT without knocking out the native predators.

Snakes are cold blooded, eh? Can we give all the predators a really bad cold? Is there a local virus that might be carried by mosquitos that would kill the snakes but the local mammals have built up immunity to, with the idea being an assumption that mosquitos don't bite snakes?

These are things I sort of nerd out about. The University here has been working on carp population controls and will often use a "Judas Fish": they tag one fish, then locate it in the winter when the carp school. This way they can target harvest large portions of the population with commercial netting equipment.

 

[Jeff Reardon]

History suggests that any efforts to eliminate an invasive pest that's in habitat that supports it well are likely to fail. There are some limited success stories at removing or managing invasive species. Maybe the best recent one is apparent success at lake trout removal in Yellowstone Lake, where they finally seem to have figured out how to target and remove enough lake trout to allow native cutts to begin to recover. But that strategy largely relies on targeting lake trout when they are concentrated in relatively discrete areas for spawning. The snakes can breed anywhere they find a mate, so removing large numbers at once will be tough.

 

[Carl]

Our agency uses "Judas pigs" to track wild hog sounders, sneak up on them at night with night vision scoped ARs, try whack all but the one with the bright orange collar & then start over when she links back up with the next sounder.

 

[Jeff Reardon]

Our agency uses "Judas pigs" to track wild hog sounders, sneak up on them at night with night vision scoped ARs, try whack all but the one with the bright orange collar & then start over when she links back up with the next sounder.

.
I'm holding my breath for the day you announce success and the feral hogs are gone. LOL! Got to manage them, and more power to anyone with good ideas on how to do it better, but it's shoveling against the tide.

I'm worried we'll get them here in Maine. Climate change makes habitat more suitable here, and frigging New Hampshire has let some "game farms" introduce hogs, supposedly inside fences. Just a matter of time before they cross the border.

Interesting on the judas hogs. That's also how they targeted the Yellowstone lakers. Put radio tags in mature lake trout and tracked them to the spawning shoals. We've done the same to identify brook trout spawning locations here in Maine, but with an eye to conserving rather than nuking them.

 

[george w]

Not to sound like a smartarse, BUT, has anyone found if they are reasonably good as table fare? If they are good eats, perhaps that may spur hunters to slow them down a bit.. Sad that a bunch of losers who just had to have the damned things ended up dumping them, with dour consequences.[mad]

 

[jode hillman]

Wow, that's unbelievable numbers. We ar dealing with our own invasive here, the Northern Snakehead. Good news is they are delicious and no limit. But at the rate they reproduce I think they are here to stay.

View attachment image.jpeg

 

[Andrew Schaefer]

Not to sound like a smartarse, BUT, has anyone found if they are reasonably good as table fare? If they are good eats, perhaps that may spur hunters to slow them down a bit.. Sad that a bunch of losers who just had to have the damned things ended up dumping them, with dour consequences.[mad]

My understanding is that FWC tested them and they were very high in mercury, so they don't recommend eating them.

 

[RLLigman]

A Lotka- Volterra relationship is a pretty simple depicter of a single predator and their prey. Given the variety of prey species Burmese pythons feed on, the scope of their population growth will likely continue unchecked by prey availability until they exhaust most of the available habitat in southern Florida, prior spreading throughout the southeastern coastal states. My guess is their growth rate is just entering early log-phase expansion as a population, based on the numbers stated.