Python Patrol

Three scientists were on the hunt in the Everglades National Park in Florida. Using long knives, they cut their way through the thick grass and vines. Finally, the three spotted what they were hunting. There was a very long female python hiding in the bushes! 

The scientists rushed to catch the snake. She whipped her thick tail and tried to escape. The four wrestled for about 15 minutes. The snake finally got tired, and the men carried her to their truck. 

The snake was 18 feet long and weighed 215 pounds. It is the largest Burmese python ever caught in Florida. 

For about 40 years, these pythons have been a threat to the Everglades ecosystem. They are an invasive species. That’s an animal or a plant that is introduced to an area and harms native species. 

Burmese pythons are from Southeast Asia. They were first seen in the wild in Florida in 1979. Scientists think those first pythons had been pets. They might have been set free by their owners when they got too big. 

The pythons have few natural predators in the Everglades. That means only a few other animals there hunt them as food. So the number of snakes keeps going up. 

On the other hand, pythons eat nearly every animal—even crocodiles. That’s bad news for the Everglades ecosystem. 

The snakes kill by wrapping their bodies tightly around their prey until the animals’ bones break. Then they swallow their victims whole.