Florida’s pythons
It’s a reading for Friday. Florida’s problem with pythons is spinning out of control:
“Last year, we caught 95 pythons,” said Skip Snow, a biologist with Florida Everglades National Park. That’s not counting the 13-footer that exploded after trying to eat an alligator, or two others that got loose and ate a Siamese cat and a turkey.
Pythons are bought as pets and released when they outgrow expectations of their owners. Idea of python as a pet is controversial in itself:
Lawmaker Poppell says he’s no snake lover and doesn’t understand people’s fascination with the slithery creatures.
“How can you want something for a pet that looks at you when it’s hungry?” he said. “I don’t want something to look at me as food, I’d rather they (pets) come to me for food.”
It will only get worse.
Three years ago, a 15-footer stopped traffic when he spread himself across a four-lane road. Last year, another 15-footer gave a 60-year-old woman quite the jolt when she walked outside to find the snake sunbathing on her patio. And rescue workers had to save a cat from the 10-foot python that was chasing it around the backyard pool.
