Python

March 21, 2025

This morning’s local newspaper carried a USA Today article on the adaptability of the Burmese python in Florida.  The snakes have been established in the Everglades since the 1990’s but recent studies and sightings indicate the cold-blooded reptiles have adapted to cooler temperatures and different habitats.  One reason for the adaptation is crossbreeding with the Indian rock python (Python molurus) which has also been introduced into the habitat.  Genetic evidence by the USGS shows at least 13 out of 400 pythons studied were crossbred.  Climate change could expand their range by 2100 to include New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Colorado, and parts of Washington State.  Southern states with climates like the native range of the Burmese python include all of Florida, most of California, the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, and Oklahoma.          

When I looked online, I found the Burmese python (Python bivittatus) is one of the largest species of snakes in the world.  The species is a dark-colored non-venomous snake with many brown blotches bordered by black down the back.  Burmese pythons typically grow to 16 feet (5 m) but unconfirmed specimens of over 23 feet (7 m) have been reported.  The species is sexually dimorphic with females slightly longer but considerably heavier and bulkier than males.  Length-weight comparisons in captive Burmese pythons for females have shown at 11 feet 5 inches (3.47 m) length, a specimen weighed 64 pounds (29 kg) and a specimen of 16 feet (5 m) weighed 165 pounds (75 kg).  Length-weight comparisons for males found a specimen of 9 feet 2 inches (2.8 m) weighed 26 pounds (12 kg) and a specimen of 10 feet (3.05 m) weighed 41 pounds (18.5 kg).  Individuals over 16 feet (5 m) are rare for either sex.  The Burmese is native to a large area of Southeast Asia where it is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.  It is an invasive species in Florida because of the pet trade.

Importing Burmese pythons was banned in the US in January 2012 by the US Department of the Interior.  A 2012 report stated, “in areas where the snakes are well established, foxes and rabbits have disappeared.  Sightings of raccoons are down by 99.3%, opossums by 98.9%, and white-tailed deer by 94.1%.”  Road surveys between 2003 and 2011 indicated an 87.3% decrease in bobcat (Lynx rufus) populations, and in some areas, rabbits (Sylvilagus palustris) have disappeared.  Bird and coyote (Canis latrans) populations may be threatened, as well as the rare Florida panther (Puma concolor couguar).  Burmese pythons compete with the native American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis), and numerous instances of alligators and pythons attacking, and even preying on, each other.  By 2011, researchers identified up to 25 species of birds from nine avian orders in the digestive tract remains of 85 Burmese pythons found in Everglades National Park.  Native bird populations are suffering a negative impact from the introduction of the Burmese python in Florida and the wood stork (Mycteria americana) is now listed as federally endangered.

THOUGHTS: A Burmese python named “Baby” was the heaviest snake recorded in the world in 1999 at 403 pounds (182.8 kg), much heavier than any wild snake ever measured.  Her length was measured at 18 feet (5.74 m).  Efforts in Florida have removed over 23,000 pythons since 2000, but trappers have caught less than 1% of the estimated population of tens of thousands.  Lisa Thompson of the Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission said, “Every python removed from the Florida landscape is one less invasive snake impacting our native wildlife and ecosystems.”  While importing exotic wildlife may be chic, bringing them (and allowing them to escape) into compatible ecosystems is never a good idea.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.