Giant Pythons Have Overrun Florida. Here’s Why.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ส.ค. 2023
- Watch the full first episode of Human Footprint here: • Video
Ever heard of the phrase "when pet pythons outgrow their owners"? Well, host Shane Campbell-Staton is about to take us on an adventure to find out what happens next in this episode of Human Footprint. Join Shane as he meets bounty hunter Donna Kalil, exotic animal trader Hillary Dupont, and biologists Matthew McCollister and Kristen Hart as they battle the invasive Burmese Pythons of the Everglades.
Human Footprint is a show that delves into the impact of humans on the planet. Join Shane as he travels from farms to restaurants, from high-tech labs to street markets, and from forests to cities to uncover the consequences of our unique history. Are you ready to explore our past, present, and future as a species?
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This was a problem 20 years ago. There was a congressman who warned about these snakes but it fell on deaf ears. Too little , too late. What a shame.
With 300,000+ pythons, they're going to need another 500+ Donnas.
THEy do need a good snake sniffing dog.
I'm surprised the snake leather business isn't jumping in on this. I guess it's not as exotic.
@@apocalypse487KILLING MY FAVOURITE ANIMAL TO MAKE LEATHER!?! SHUT UP
@@lorirarich1875 With a swimblatter
They're here to stay, no way to get rid of them all. They're too good of survivors. Thankfully they can't go north or they die so cannot spread more than they already have.
Rangers have said that in the Everglades National Park there are no more raccoons, rabbits or other small mammals. Now the snakes are going for bird eggs. Pythons have also been found swimming in Florida Bay - they can swim and tolerate salt water. Add to this the threat of black and white tegus that primarily eat eggs. A breeder that was operating near ENP was cited for violations. When rechecked a couple of weeks later, the place was abandoned and all the cages opened and empty.
Oh wow, just how ravenous are those pythons?!
Burmese can eat a lot, and very large meals. These snakes can get over 20 feet in length, and weigh upwards of 200 pounds. The climate in South Florida is very similar to where they came from---Southeast Asia. They are opportunistic and eager feeders---almost any warm blooded animal will do, as long as they can overpower it. They are not venomous, they kill by constriction. They've even killed alligators who were sunning themselves, so were warm. They have heat sensing pits on their muzzles. I have smaller and more timid ball pythons, who eat nothing more than small or medium sized rats, even though I do have a female that eats large sized ones. Mine eat once a week. (Jan Griffiths).@@iqbaalannaafi4944
I also had an albino Burm that I bought as a hatchling. He was already 2 feet long. I bought him in 1992. By the time he was 9 months old, he was already slightly over 10 feet long, and nearly 90 pounds. He was getting too big for one person to handle alone, so he was donated to a zoo, where he lived till 28 years of age. His name was Sunny D. (Jan Griffiths).@@iqbaalannaafi4944
Well they won't be swimming in that bay for very long as there's a lotta swimmers out there that are a lot bigger and a lot faster.
I have recently been hearing local news reports stating that the pythons have decimated the wildlife in the Everglades so they are migrating northward to central FL. now. We also have a growing population of invasive exotic monitor lizards. Around 4 anaconda were found near Florida's east coast in the St John's River, 2-4 Nile crocs in the Miami area. It's hard to keep up with all of the exotic species that have been released or escaped into Florida's ecosystems. They all thrive well here. It's sad to see the native wildlife disappearing. The humans are still the most invasive and destructive species who caused all of this.
I knew these pythons were having a seriously negative effect on Florida wildlife, but I didn't realize how big the impact was!
The media loves to overdramatize it all for views. Notice the title of this video. "Florida overrun". Only a small portion of Florida even has Burmese. And look at how hard it was for them to even find one that had a transmitter. Hardly "overrun" with these animals.
Also, stating 94% of the deer population is gone yet they still have deer hunting every year in those areas. And the hunters keep getting deer.
Don't believe everything the media puts out for views. Sure there are Burmese in the Everglades but they're not everywhere like they are portrayed.
for good reasons
they are nowhere that bad. About 200 pythons were released at once during the hurricane. Giving the time frame, their reproductive and growth rate and the fact that adults really only eat once a month they cannot possibly be responsible for such a decline.
If you want to find more responsible parties, look at video of FWC and other Florida agency spraying erbicide and pesticide right over birds and alligators. Then look at the increase of pollution in the Everglade. Finally notice how all of the higher ups of FWC are part of development companies or have ties to them. They want as much as the wildlife gone so they can build more resorts and villages for rich old fucks.
The phytons are scapegoats.
I guess you npc's need things like PBS to tell you what to say and think.
@@chris135x What you think about the figures at 11:00?
@@chris135xAll PBS did was state factual information and he was educated from the factual information so what’s the problem
It's terrible when irresponsible pet owners just dump their pets in the nearby environment, but it's ten times worse when it's a foreign species. The risk of invasive species impacting an ecosystem is always huge.
Breeders are the ones to blame and the loose laws in owning exotic animals but you people are oximorons.
Just release some tigers out to eat the pythons
@@Zenocius if I learned anything from the old lady that swallowed a fly, that isn't really a great idea
That's only part of the issue, & a small part at that. Apparently a breeding facility got destroyed during one hurricane & let loose a LOT of them. That's the bulk of where all these snakes have come from.
@@NinjaRunningWild
Yes, a government run facility.
Why would anyone put a breeding facility for these snakes in a state were they can thrive and a state that has terrible storms almost every year????
Notice they blame pet owners even though that's not where the bulk of the problem came from????
Donna IS 100% correct.....'we'/humans brought 'em here, we NEED to try & eliminate them.
Easy for her to say, she’s getting paid.
Ironically why don't people treat stray/feral cats as such
@@artemesiagentileschini7348Bias, we empathize more with cats than snakes, on average anyway. My apartment complex is completely overrun by feral cats some old cat lady apparently mass released 20 years ago (according to my Mom's coworker who used to live around here) and they bred and I guess, 20 years later it's just gotten insane.
It's impossible not to see them outside and some have even broken into abandoned units around the complex, I hear their yowling in the evening. They're annoying af but there's almost a sense of humanity in their eyes. I remember seeing one on the patio through the glass window looking back up at me, almost seemed sentient.
I could Imagine killing a snake but not a cat, they look too..."there". That's my guess.
Amazing. The one time humans can’t make something go extinct
Honestly I wouldn't be shocked if people were secretly breeding them on Florida and releasing them to 'find' them as a bounty.
Did you know India did this same bounty system to get rid of their cobras? Yeah they ended up with way more cobras then they started. For Florida I wouldn't be shocked if the gov continued this 'war' just for the publicity/gimmick of it.
Overall the snakes are established sure some irresponsible people released pets, but the true foothold occurred after Katrina. Honestly it's a lost battle oh and the more people hunt them the more genetic pressure will be put on these animals to develope aspects to avoid/defend themselves from people. We are learning this from native rattlers as well.
Overall it is what it is sure remove some to try to keep some checks and balances, but that ecosystem is screwed Florida did it to themselves still it doesn't mean all regions should legislate reptiles because Florida happens to have the perfect environment.
Wild boars
Rabbits in Australia
I think they could if wanted to. For some reason, humans just don't have the will to take out the pythons like other species. They come up with excuses like they're always in water, they're difficult to find, and they don't come out until night. C'mon!
@@michaeln.2383
It was a GOVERNMENT run breeding facility destroyed by a hurricane that caused the bulk of this problem but they don't announce that.
Why would government officials think to put a breeding facility in Florida where these animals can thrive if they escape????
Why in Florida where there are structure destroying storms almost every year????
"And how old is the Prince of Darkness?" Lol I think I just found my new favorite program. Excellent episode, many thanks to all involved in the production.
I loved the comment about bieng gangster for eating gators
I hate news stories that dont paint the full picture because its so misleading.
Never forget the Burmese Python breeding facility that was wiped out by hurricane Andrew in the 90s and THATS where all of it truly started. Not just a bunch of random people releasing thousands of them by any means. There are a few that probably have, but the big event was the facility being taken out.
A knowledgable source said that "facility" in Homestead never existed, nobody can tell you what or where it was. That source, who will remain unnamed, said pet dealers imported Burmese pythons & released them intentionally, so they would not have to feed them. They could go out in the Everglades & capture them for sale. Their business plan backfired & massive ecological damage resulted. Evidence offered is that the Everglades are not overrun by anacondas & boa constrictors which pet owners have released as well, so individual pet owners are only a small part of the problem.
More BS. Even up here in the Midwest these things are found set loose. These morons take in a “small” monster who then grows to the point they’re afraid that it’s going to kill them. That’s when they suddenly decide they’re animal lovers (never mind the innocent creatures they’ve fed to their monstrosities before then). So they just dump them out somewhere in the wild (or just the nearest green space) and feel like they’re ecological heroes giving these monsters a new lease on life.
Park ranger told me you can be standing next ti one in grass and not see it! She said they ( the ranger at Shark Valley ) had caught one that had a 70 lb deer inside of it
yikes 👀
I had no idea this was going on let alone the impact it has had on the native wildlife population. This was a super interesting look at the people dedicating their time to learn and try to solve this. Thanks to Shane and the rest of the team that made this possible!
for good reasons
they are nowhere that bad. About 200 pythons were released at once during the hurricane. Giving the time frame, their reproductive and growth rate and the fact that adults really only eat once a month they cannot possibly be responsible for such a decline.
If you want to find more responsible parties, look at video of FWC and other Florida agency spraying erbicide and pesticide right over birds and alligators. Then look at the increase of pollution in the Everglade. Finally notice how all of the higher ups of FWC are part of development companies or have ties to them. They want as much as the wildlife gone so they can build more resorts and villages for rich old fucks.
The phytons are scapegoats.
The women shown catching these snakes are badass fr 😭❤️
Surprised there’s zero reference to the thousands of snakes that escaped during hurricane Andrew
Yep, just as guilty.
@@rayellebishop8168Not just as. It's the bulk of the genesis of this problem.
@@NinjaRunningWild I was referring to the above.
Actually Burmese pythons and a lot of other reptiles including tegus iguanas chameleons basilisk and countless other little reptiles got released from a breeding facility years ago when a hurricane past through Florida years ago yes there are some irresponsible unknowledgeable reptile keepers that release their pets when they can't handle them Florida's biggest reptile problem is it from pet keepers it's from a hurricane
The news media passes the blame to pet owners. No one wants to blame the ignorance of having a breeding facility right where a hurricane would strike. They knew the storm was coming. They could have moved the snakes if they really wanted to.
@@michaeln.2383are these the same humans?
@@shirish.pokharel Humans make a mess and don't want to clean up their mess. A reasonable person would conclude that it's the same humans.
Yes, some invasive species entered Florida's environment because of a hurricane. However, the overwhelming majority of them were dumped by irresponsible pet owners. The lesson we should learn is this. Leave Wild Animals in the Wild. They're not pets!
@@seveglider8406 They started showing up in '79 and the theory is that for every one that you see, there are 100 that you don't see.
If the FWC payed more people to hunt pythons instead of twirling their thumbs when it comes to applications to be python hunters, these snakes would be easily removed from the glades in under 10 years. There is no excuse for FWC to act like its a problem when there is such an obvious solution.
Not to mention they allowed land development in the only area that has a population of cougar in Florida, causing more interactions with these animals.
And because FWC was working with those land developers, you'd think they would build homes away from waterways. Yet homes that were mentioned for the elderly are way too close to the waters edge. Gators have been attacking the elderly more in the past 2 years and its usually in places like this. FWC is hurting the everglades
in 10 years they could run out of food. Wait till the pythons start hunting us
@@floridaman6982 pythons don't hunt humans. They can't fit your typical Florida resident/tourist unless you're a small child and even then, it would have to be much larger than the snakes you'd typically find. Its rare to find a snake large enough. Most snakes being found and removed are under 10 feet long. If people were continuously hunting these animals their sizes and population would be reduced, making it where there would be less and less snakes over 10 feet long, meaning there would be less and less of a chance of a small child being hunted by a python.
In order for a snake to consume anything, its prey has to be smaller than the snake is thick. It would have to be over 15, if not up to 20 feet long. A 10 foot python simply lacks the size to consume a person
6:49 I need to offer a correction: No constrictor snake constricts in self defense... That would be completely disadvantageous for them as constricting just brings any predator close enough to them to use their claws and teeth. Snakes *only* constrict when they're in feeding mode. If they are defending themselves, their objective is to keep distance by first keeping perfectly still to remain unseen, running away if possible, mock striking to prevent injury to themselves, and then real striking when the threat is proven to be more serious, in that order. They won't have the neurological feeding response to start constricting if they're defending themselves. They need to have an expectation of food to constrict.
Not only that, but most "giant" snakes are apex predators in their natural environments. This include Burmese and reticulated pythons. Because they are apex, they have minimal to no defense mechanisms once they reach adulthood. Reticulated and Burmese pythons can bite, but it is 99.99% of the time because they were in food-response mode and saw a warm hand and thought it was food, but the snakes are basically fearless and have no urge to fight something, because there's nothing that tries to kill them in their natural habitat. Burmese are especially docile and people call them "puppy dog snakes." They do bite in defense as babies, but they grow out of the behavior at size, if they're not traumatized.
No adult human needs to be concerned about being attacked by a python. They don't see us as food and aren't scared of us. Children and pets, though...
Looks to me that they ARE scared of us because they try to avoid detection. They'll also try to escape and will coil if we grab them by the heads because we of course sport something they've never seen before... opposable thumbs and two arms. Animals that they see all have 4 legs with the possible exception of raccoons. However raccoons ain't about to grab them behind the head like we're capable of. Yeah once we get them behind the head they're goners. And ESPECIALLY if we're somebody like Stan Brock. That guy was probably before your time but he took on full grown green Anacondas single handed.
@@FlippingCandyI wouldn’t say “many”, as it’s quite a rare phenomenon. And as far as I know, all were reticulated pythons and not Burmese.
@@SimoneDesignsGamingOnly reticulated pythons in Indonesia can eat an adult human
If they eat children, then they would already be in news in southeast asia, no?
Amazing on at least two occasions we were told " the snake is there" but I still couldn't see them, no wonder they are such a problem.
Ditto, simply can’t spot a snake, any snake!
Shane Campbell-Staton, you are my hero! I have spent a lot of time working among academics, so I know the kind of posturing that goes on in that environment, and the fissure that can open up between scientists and the world around them. I have so much admiration for how you approach this journalistic role with down-to-earth humility and humor and curiosity. Thank you so much for choosing to do this important work, and for doing it so well. (Perhaps this is a delayed comment, because these thoughts were first inspired by previous episodes. "I learned to make cinnamon rolls from a TH-cam video once"... )😊
I hate to say it, but, because of the Burmese Python 's adaptability, camouflage, and high birth rate, the battle has been lost. They are here to stay. In addition, the Florida Everglades have channels, or waterways, for the snakes to spread out. The snake catchers are basically fighting the ocean with a broom.
They will run out of food. Wonder whos on the menu when that happens
@@floridaman6982 it's extremely rare that any snake sees a human as food and even more rare that one eats a human. You can count the documented cases on one hand. Pretty sure there's no record of a burm eating a human also, only reticulated pythons.
a perfect time to quit real estate, especially in Florida
Agreed. The market here is complete shite 😂
When even conservative insurance companies have realized the state will be entirely underwater and cease being able to amortize their insurance as a consequence of the basic accounting therein, that's when you know you're past the point of no return.
@@RosscoAW so true. Even now the map of hurricane affected areas and flood zones keeps getting bigger and bigger and the acceptable risk zones zones get smaller and smaller thereby increasing insurance premiums to outrageous prices. We had friends in Ft Lauderdale who actually had to move only five years into their mortgage because insurance moved the flood zones from the inter-coastal waterways past their property thereby increasing their annual premiums to 115% their MORTGAGE PAYMENT!! Insanity down here but no one wants to live inland because of the Everglades lol
With regards to tracking them through such terrain, I should think a properly trained athletic breed of dog would be a valuable asset to the team.
Until the dog gets eaten too.
@@fernandoavila3929 Yes, because the people using the dog will just stand there and watch if the dog is attacked.
Dumbass.
There's a python hunter here on TH-cam doing exactly that. The channel is called Python Cowboy
@@jaungiga exactly I watch alot... There should be hundreds of dogs trained with a proper owner doing that
Bomb the Everglades and be done with it lol, or poison these invasive species.
Florida sounds like an animal finder’s paradise
It would be if assholes at FWC actually let us keep the animals we removed from the environment.
I blame these pet store owners for selling these to anyone that walked in and wanted to buy one. Surely they knew these snakes would grow very large and many would end up being released into Floridas ecosystem. This is clearly a problem that has gone way beyond out of control. For every 500 they catch, im sure 500 are being hatched in a python nest somewhere. The pet/ reptile industry should stop selling these snakes, lizards , turtles , frogs to the public just for profit in their pockets . Its sad to see wildlife exploited like this and forced to create a ecosytem scenario in which the species breeds out of control.
They came from a breeding facility that was destroyed by hurricane Andrew, not individual pet owners.
@@NinjaRunningWild Its not just breeding facility, there is more too it. Please educate yourself!
@@aintez2bstieby83 Educate yourself first bozo, it absolutely IS the breeding facility. Pet owners released maybe 5% of them compared to the facility which had thousands of breeding-age individuals, all dumped at once
pythons will feed on a lot of other species since they are generalists and opportunists but they still fall prey to various predators such as birds of prey bears and crocodiles especially when they are young
And feral dogs, a pack of dogs can make easy work of a large python, also eating their offspring.
In the '90's, there were a couple of hurricanes that came through Florida, hitting at least one reptile facility (maybe more than one) allowing both Burmese Pythons and other invasive species such as Iguanas turning them loose. It would have been great if it was a sub zero temperature for a month after the hurricane because that would probably killed most if not all of them, but as we know, there is no such thing as a sub zero climate in Florida, they are literally a hotbed for the pythons. Unfortunately they have destroyed a lot of flora and fauna of the everglades and continue to move farther north, eating the wildlife that belongs there. There are people who make their income by catching these snakes, getting bounties by the weight and length of the snakes, they sell the meat, and then the skin to make boots or belts, who knows how many things. I got into the show with Dusty and his cohorts capturing pythons left and right, including babies. and when I wasn't seeing the show returning, I learned of Dusty nearly losing his leg in a bad accident. Along came Swamp People, 2 separate shows, one for Gators, and one for Pythons. They aren't quite what I'd gotten used to, but they are on the History channel and I love watching them chase them down, grab them, and bag them to get their bounty.
Pretty much the only reason why I like a long winter season right there.
Agreed. I live where it gets -10F in winter and we still have invasive species. It'd be so much worse if it didn't get so cold.
The pythons seek gopher tortoise burrows and other burrows during the cold which makes it even more of a challenge
There is a reason its totally legal to catch and kill them on sight in Florida. So long as its done humanely by the guidelines put out by the state of Florida its literally open season. There are python challenges every year. Theres one going on right now. Cash prizes.
Not in the Everglades. You have to be licensed.
Horrible creatures. Glad I'm in WISCONSIN.
That's like the most human thing I can think of. Wreck eco-system by accident, turn it into a murder competition.
All of the deer, rabbits and raccoons have moved to the huge gated neighborhoods that are popping up everywhere. Deforestation to build these massive gated communities has more of a impact than any python. All the apex predators in Florida are doing well. And the last 15 years Coyotes have moved in.
they wont last they are all easy kills for pythons
These are some badasses doing some bizarre work ❤
You all should know that hurricane Andrew destroyed an exotic animal holding facility in 1992. That's where alot of the lizards and snakes came from
Slithering out and still lurking out there...😱
Andrew also released many exotic critters from the Miami zoo.
Yes. But that was only a one time event while private pet keepers have been releasing their pets to the environment for as long as the existence of the hobby - before and after a natural disaster
@@thangri-la do you have any idea how many eggs a big python can have
Jurrasic Park
Hopefully the new ecosystem will adapt to them and a "balance" will occur, sooner rather than later
What I wonder is , if pythons got loose , what other species slipped away in the storm. A few dozen Egyptian cobras , maybe some Ringoles that have the charming ability to just spit their special blend in ya face. At least with these immigrants you can call help or write a note explaining how you are dying. With the present population of new critters that may not be option. Get this picture, your riding on the Tamiami turnpike when a light cmes on saying your engine is running a fever. You stop at a convenient creek to feetch a pail of water but slip , tumbling down after the bucket , it and you coming to rest beside the still waters. Gathering your senses , reaching for the pail when suddenly a mouth attaches to your face blinding all your vision. You see only darkness but as your eyes become accustomed to the.sudden lack blackness , thin teeth and a a forked tongue become visible as you become aware of a sudden tightness wrapping you up. You wonder if it's a really bad dream but no. It's really big snake that has a grip on next meal and that is not the best news you've told yourself this day.
All you can do at this point is . really to try n bend so you can kiss your bottom goodbye.
Goodbye..
They have been getting loose because people who buy exotic pets like these from foreign countries don’t realise how big they can get. They can also cost a lot of money to feed and need constant attention and care. Pythons originate from Asia not the americas. Man has done this, not a flood.
@@puffingtonsmythe8690No. Some hurricane damage released animals. Man released some. Nature replied, "Watch this."
You name it, it's multiplying in wild Florida.
@@puffingtonsmythe8690 Their pet rabbits they used for pet python food are multiplying like rabbits all over the urban sprawl as well.
One of the better documentary I’ve seen on this topic
This is an amazing production. Somehow YT didn't recommend it to me until now. I've always supported PBS even when they were only on local access TV and I'm glad to see you guys taking over the internet, especially with such good videos.
It wasn’t irresponsible pet owners. The biggest concentration of them are near where a reptile breeding facility on the edge of the Everglades was absolutely destroyed in a hurricane. The govt wanna blame pet owners but the scientists are saying the data shows they came from a single point and have spread out from there. That point is where the breeding facility got destroyed.
If it was pet owners, they would be all over Florida and other places too, but that’s not the pattern. It’s all one location and they spread from there.
The reason the Florida govt doesn’t wanna admit it’s a facility is it’s a corporation and in America, corporations come before ppl.
So it’s an easier scapegoat to blame pet owners in Florida.
Tho all the Gulf coast has sub tropical swampy conditions and python owners live there too.. why only in Florida Everglades is this an issue??
Cuz it was the breeding facility that got destroyed and they all got loose.
What’s incredible about Burmese Pythons is how they are slowly becoming endangered in their native range, yet they are thriving on the other side of the planet in Florida swamps. Snakes are truly a hardy species.
I lived in the Keys, the everglades has always had an invasive species that kill more than pythons. That species is the feral cat, and also feral dogs, both eat daily, large pythons eat once a month, and not at all during breeding season. If anything the pythons are decreasing the feral dog, and cat population.
Thank for info. I always worry about these snakes during flooding down there!!! Yikes, can you imagine, its storming and dark and you must go into water filled with snakes....pythons😮😮😢
Outside of what I’m assuming is ticket to a metric ton of bug bites - being a python hunter sounds kinda fun
The vast majority of pythons pretty much came from a breeding facility destroyed by a hurricane, with a small portion of them being released pets
Could the tagged pythons not be sterilized prior to release so they could be studied without reproducing?
I remember having friends in the 90s, as a kid, who owned pythons as pets. It was all the idiot exotic pet stores that created this mess. Parents weren’t told that these snakes would grow rapidly and so they were all released into the Everglades once they got too big. Imagine over 2 decades of them reproducing at will. FL has now been overtaken by invasive species. From Python’s, to Tagu’s, to Asian snakeheads in the water. The state should have not ever allowed this SMH
For everyone they catch, this miss one that has 50 babies. Insane.
It ain’t just Burmese Pythons out there in the Everglades.. they’ve found Reticulated Pythons, & Anacondas
Are these species compatible? Python/anaconda sounds terrifying
@@SapphireZeev36I think you meant can they interpreted. If that's your question the answer is yes they can.
Do you mean interbred? ^
Never ever going to get rid of them...NEVER. Florida is huge.
The Simpsons did an episode on this already. Whacking Day 4/29/93
“Simpsons did it” also extends to science TH-cam channels I guess 😂
Most weren't released by owners. During 2005 several hurricanes swept through all of Florida . Not one area wasn't effected. We also was warned for several months to watch for non native reptiles. Reason was several animal shops were destroyed and the reptiles ended up free...
Invasive species absolutely are mostly dumped pets. This doesn't only happen with pythons, it happened with goldfish, plecos, red eared sliders etc. This absolutely is the work of asshole people dumping their pets into the wild.
Imagine being a drop center for 100 pets plus one python and coming in in the morning and there being one fat python. 😂
Thank you for sharing this video~👍
I grew up in South Florida. When I was about 10 in 1987, a friend of my mom's gave us a 6ft python. We thought it was cool at first. I remember feeding it rats and watching it kill its prey. Then the damn thing grew like another 6 feet in a year. It also got aggressive and started eyeing our dog and parrot. It snapped at me and my mom at times. It had to be constantly caged. Somehow, it escaped. Fast forward a year later, and about a mile from us, a news story came out about a loose 18 foot python eating all the neighborhood cats and dogs that was found living under someone's porch. I've always wondered if that was ours.
Are there no native predators in Florida such as Jaguar, wolves, bears or Cougars that can perhaps compete and kill the snakes? Jaguars and cougars both are viable competitors for burmese pythons as these animals live with anacondas and other boa constrictors further south.
Nope. All the species you mentioned are either endangered or don't exist in Florida.
Jaguars haven't been in South Florida for over 600 years, black bears and the Florida panther are endangered in the state, bobcats and raptors can only take down small pythons. About the only critters that have a chance to take out a large python are alligators and the American crocodile. Bull sharks can do a number on one if caught in the water.
@majorsynthqed7374 giant otters can too.
@@gsoutside5741 There are no giant otters in South Florida. And they get eaten by anacondas, so I imagine a python can to if it got one alone.
they are eating alligator eggs otherwise alligators can eat them
Raw meat is a good bait for fly traps. If humans can't or won't eat them, that might be a use for the flesh of the killed snakes.
Also, if the meat is sold and sent elsewhere, it should be irradiated first so if there are parasite eggs or non-native bacteria,, etc from its native country the sale will not spread them further.
Chinese eat snakes so there may be a market for these pythons there!
If the game and fish idiots would have declared year round open season on them and hogs years ago, their wouldn't be near the problem there is now.
A major factor not ever mentioned is the female's capacity to lay several dozen eggs. One female was cut open and had NINETY EGGS!!!
The problem with government paying people to kill snakes: folks start raising snakes in captivity for the reward. Happened in India with Cobras....
I don't live anywhere near Florida, way over here in Canada, lol. Had a Burmese Python many years back, got to 14 ft, named him "Cujo". Very sweet, as far as snakes go. :D Then also had a beautiful Rainbow Boa, named her "Asphyxia". Worked with a REALLY big, and extremely docile, Burmese Python at a zoo, that was used as Endangered Species Awareness for educational purposes back in '95-ish, named "Julius Squeezer". He was a HUGE hit with the kids.
The pet trade needs to be regulated. Bringing in exotic species as pets is horrific for the animals. Humans are the invasive species.
Pretty sure humans are Florida's biggest invasive species.
Yes, the snakes didnt do anything wrong either and now they die because we cant be trusted to care for anything
More like Florida man...
very underrated comment
Typical Leftist comment 😂
yeap but people don't seem to understand that, humans are biggest invasive and most destructive
They should pass a law in Florida banning owning Pythons and any other exotic animal. Anyone who is caught owning one or caught smuggling one in should get up to five years in jail and a fine of $15,000. "If anyone sees a Pythons places call 911"!!
Lmaoooo… that’s absolutely ridiculous. This problem was not created by a person dropping their pet off. It was sparked by Hurricane Andrew destroying a customs warehouse that was used for storing exotic animals.
No, this was do to people smuggling these animals into people. Because they think owning a snake is cool, but when they become too big for them to take care for? They dump them in a swamp instead of giving them to a zoo or an animal rescue! Those people a scum thanks to Florida are now being invaded by them "SCUM"!
Pets being released is a tiny part of the problem. A hurricane destroying a massive research and breeding facility is the main problem.
HELL no! 1 this issue should be reviewed state by state on what could potentially have a threshold. For the most part the only state with these issues is FLORIDA. Stop trying to legislate this hobby when you likely know SQUAT about it.
Keepers normally are incredibly responsible and for those who can't keep their animal for whatever reason custody is released to a reptile store who can rehome them or a rescue. If a snake is released normally they die ESPECIALLY in regions that are incredibly cold or the humidity isn't right leading to shedding issues!
The subject is complex and there are equally destructive animals out there like dogs and cats, but nooo they get fur privledge.
Florida has already shown they know nothing about pythons. Ball pythons, the child python, the black head African python, etc but not even the FWC would be able to identify those species let alone a boa (review the horror story of the 'Holy Thursday massacre' that had soooo many issues those snakes should have been adopted out of state or grandfathered in!! Not to mention the murdered gravid boa those officers knew what they were doing!!)
Anyways ignorance and hate breeds just that so don't be ignorant especially when we as humans are WAY more destructive than any snake!
Why do that? Just shoot them.
The Everglades are obviously flooded with Pythons 😱
To get rid of those snakes is like fighting against windmills...
Bro these videos are so intriguing
i think the size of the largest patterns will give a good approximation of length. rather than having to measure length directly
GREAT video! Loved it!
13:15 The full episode video is "not available" if you click on the link.
In 1989 I went down to south Florida and visited several reptile importers. There was one in Tamiami right across from the Tamiami airport. They literally had hundreds of Burmese Pythons! This was in a self storage building. This was just before Hurricane Andrew and they were ground zero. National Geographic did an article about Andrew and the destruction of the Tamiami airport and I have no doubt that the importer was destroyed too. Sure some of the pythons may have been pets that were purposely released but I can't help think that the importer with hundreds of Burmese pythons being released in one place has much more to contribute to this problem than an occasional released pet.
If there was no demand, there would be no breeder. So even super committed, responsible pet owners are to blame.
@@98Zai you don't know what you are talking about. It's not the breeder or the keeper it was the importer that imported the wild pythons. Now there's so many breeders that there's no need to import. My point is there was a mass release by a natural disaster hurricane Andrew. Pet owners would never release in one area that they would be able to find each other. So I think pet releases had very little to do with this problem.
@@crotalus2011 We don't need to have a snake, it's an interest. So our interest made the importers/breeders spend money on snakes, with promise of return on investment. Let's not keep exotic animals in a climate where they can survive outside. Actually, why are we keeping exotic animals at all? To me they seem to be a biological weapon, many other countries don't allow this crap.
@@crotalus2011 For some reason my comment was removed despite me not using a single word that might trigger a filter.
I'll try to rephrase what I said and hope for the best:
The reason that importers and breeders spend money on snake is because they can get a return on investment, it's all down to the customer. In our economic system anything not regulated by law is regulated by the market.
In other countries it's illegal to keep exotic pets when the climate allows them to survive in the wild. Invasive species are basically a biological weapon, I think it's kinda crazy that it's allowed today.
thank you for the video
Wtf why blame storms or pet owners for the python invasion, I worked at a reptile distributor in the mid 1980s in Florida and when we received shipments from overseas we were ordered to throw the sick or injured out the back door into the wild, pythons to king cobras not to mention all the other reptile species scorpions too frogs.
Went to the everglades last december and saw a gator eating a python right off the road.
Can't say I don't love this series with Shane Campbell-Staton so far, but I also feel like the way this program is edited and the music makes it feel a little less... serious? Like it's not accurately reflecting the gravity of these issues, or more showing them for fun as opposed for education material. I don't know. I might be the only one who feels that way but the editing style feels off with the goal of the program.
Such beautiful snakes. I've released several and I'm glad they're doing great 👍
The link does not have a video
The craziest part is that in their home range in Southeast Asia these pythons are endangered. So it would be a good idea to catch them and release them in Southeast Asia.
I wonder if this is ever gonna get fixed. Like is it even possible to hunt them faster then they reproduce.
Mammals need to go to python avoidance school or Florida needs a mammal transplant of animals that are better able to live around them. Otherwise South Florida could become a mammal-free zone.
Introducing another invasive species to a l environment so fragile is definitely not the answer
@@jeffreycater5447 It's all going to be underwater in 20 years anyway.
Amazing they still have exotic pet shops.
How prepared is the exotic pet store for a disaster to break the glass cages and release pythons?
Thank you!
Great presenter. Nice voice.
I bet you could find these things with a drone with good thermal camera
With Thermal cameras? No. Snakes are "coldblooded" so they don't really show up like a mammal would. But there's promise with some Infrared cameras from what I've read. Those may be viable... but expensive, unfortunately.
Impossible to solve by catching manually. The hunter rely on roads & boats. But pythons can be essentially in any place.
It's amazing that our wildlife is being wiped out by a fifteen foot long animal, and we can't find them.
Down here in South Florida Dustin Crum is the king of capturing them.
Them: “Pythons are taking over the Everglades”
Gators: are literally everywhere
The more they eat and the more space they have They will grow!😮
These pythons came from South, Southeast Asia, right? What do the scientists there know about them? They are classified as vulnerable worldwide, but why are they unstoppable in Florida? What keeps their population in check in their native lands?
I understand this series focus is the impact of humanity, but it's a bit frustrating that it doesn't bring us the science info that probably do exist.
Big cats and other snakes but mostly it's humans (iirc mostly habitat destruction but also hunting).
Short of making the invasive species problem worse or trashing the Everglades; not much is applicable...maybe someone can make snake leather cool.
i know this isn’t necessarily where you were going with this comment but i think its kind of funny that there’s been many cases of governments releasing an invasive species’ natural predators into the environment, only for the predator to also become an invasive species lol.
@@LENZ5369Interesting. But, humans have not been out of Africa until relatively recently.
I wonder what constrained the python population before anthropogenic habitat destruction.
@@SansBalance There's no reason to think that it would have be any different.
Habitat destruction often hits the higher trophic levels (top predators) harder/first, so the numbers of big cats and higher level snakes would have dropped first; throwing things out of balance.
Then there is the threat factor -big cats and the venomous snakes that prey on the Burmese; are also threats to humans and would have been targeted to some degree.
Just a hypothesis but the Burmese's current population losses to human actions could have just (over)corrected for the losses that would have occured due to normal prehuman big cat and venomous snakes populations.
@@SansBalance What does humans leaving Africa have to do with Burmese pythons ? Heard of a search engine ? Adult pythons in Asia are preyed on by leopards and tigers. A lot of things prey on the young.
Pythons have been dumped in the swamps since the 50s. The Florida conservation dept allowing the hunting of large gators helped the snakes multiply.
How come when they catch them they don't sterilize them if they are going to release them?
My guess is that it may change the behaviors of the snakes that are sterilized compared to snakes that aren't. For example, if a researcher wants to understand how pythons breed, they wouldn't be able to answer that question with snakes that are sterilized. And seems to be incredibly risky to sterilize snakes.
@@krystleyoung5328 I got that from the piece, but it just seems they are adding to the problem. It just seems to me that they could go to Asia and do it in their natural habitat
@@virginiathomasakaicedragon6579nah the point is to see how they act in Florida so they have to release them here. And it's not really contributing to the problem since the snake was already out there. It's the same as if they did nothing
Respect for these Burmese Python hunters 🫡
The python hunt should be year round . Ridiculous letting this damage to our native species be wiped out .2 weeks a year will no fix this horrific problem.
The camera woman really risked herself for that shot at 3:06
Florida is some prehistoric region
So I wonder what they do with the meat. I believe they turn them into sausage or some canned food right.
⚓️ Thanks PBS 🌈 I saw a video with dogs tracking pythons, it seemed to be pretty successful. 😎
Wow! what an impact, they killing everything. hope they come up with a solution before its too late
I see belts, boots, and stew. Texas has an annual rattlesnake roundup every year, and that's exactly what happens to them.
Snake skin boots gonna be making a comeback.
Wonder if you can eat them and how they taste.
If you do see something on the road , yell python? And wait for it to respond “yessssssssss”
beautiful snakes! they make great pets, but not a great invasive species, lol
I see .. purses and shoes.