Threats of Pythons in the Everglades

The “Burmese Pythons” species has been a great danger to the Everglades Nation Park located in south Florida. The exotic snakes their native home in South Asia. They entered the United States where some of the inhabitants bought them as a pet and took care of them in their homes. According to (Cubie, 2009) these snakes were abandoned by their owners after which they found their way into the Everglades. Due to the better conditions that are favorable around the Everglades National Park these type of snakes has prolifically multiplied in south Florida.

It’s approximated that about tens to hundreds of thousands of snakes have invaded the park (Cubie, 2009). As a result of their large in number, they have caused a lot of effects on the tourist attraction site. Some of the major challenges caused by these non-native species that I am going to discuss below includes endangering the native species, damage to the ecosystem and renovation of the park of the park is hindered. Also in the last part of this research, I am to discuss on the measures put in place to curb the spread of these snakes.

One of the major challenges caused by this snakes is endangering the native species. The Everglades National Park is a home for many animals and birds such as marsh rabbits, opossums, raccoons, fish, alligators, foxes, deer, rats and many more mammals (Reed, 2005). According to (Willson et al. 2010), around early in the year 2000, most of the animals would always be observed during the night and daytime. Immediately after the spread of these deadly species, the number of this animals fall drastically around the park. No more birds and reptiles would be seen on regular basis.

Availability of the many native species at that time which is the source of food of pythons led them to increase rapidly in the park (Mccleery et al., 2015). It’s believed that pythons almost 75 percent of the animals that they come across within the park and therefore almost all the animals in the park are not spared by these snakes putting them at risk. Sources say that pythons can live at an average of thirty years in the park (Reed, 2005). There long lifespan in the wild allows them to feed more of these species causing them to be more distinct as their production rate is low.

For instance, research that was carried on a five year period by about 85 snakes in number had eaten approximately 25 birds belonging to various species in the park. Most of these birds that were eaten by these alien snakes were naïve. They would land on the big body of these snakes after which they would be trapped and swallowed alive by the pythons. Though plans are underway to prevent more of these birds from being consumed there small in nature and high rate of consumption from these predators possess a great challenge to rescue them (Hart et al., 2015).

Another effect caused by “Burmese Pythons” is the destruction of the environment, as a result, their high rate of reproduction (Reed, 2005). The occasional crocodiles/alligators are becoming more extinct as they compete for food both them. All this type of animals consumes any mammals they find along their way and choose what to eat according to body size. If a snake is smaller than the crocodile it will be consumed and if the alligator is small it will be preyed by the snake.

Alligators are important as they are crucial in maintaining the environment in which they harbor. Alligators built holes that are occupied by water mostly the periods of rainy time of year and conserves during the dry season. Most of the animals move to these holes to such as food and settle due to high temperatures. Alligators use these holes to hunt for their predators for food. According to (Mazzotti et al., 2009), if the population of Burmese pythons surpasses that of the alligators by constantly feeding on them, other wild mammals that depend on these places for food and shelter during the dry season are endangered.

To curb the spread of these snakes in Everglades a lot of billions of money is set aside to terminate their existence to restore the park to its original state. Several measures have been put in place to halt their spread. Various agencies such as “Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission” have helped to capture thousands of pythons from the park but still, there are many left since there are a hundred thousands of them.

Another method that has been used is the capture method by local inhabitants. Individuals are urged to hunt the snakes and anybody who traps any is awarded. Though people are able to capture some snakes some risks exist as they can bite them causing great fear for those involved in the challenge (Mazzotti et al., 2009). Snake traps have also been placed to trap them by putting rats inside to attract them to prey them, in the process, they are trapped. Finally, various scientists have used various chemical and biological drugs to capture a very large number of snakes even though they can be hazardous to some of the endangered species they are trying to protect (Mazzotti et al., 2009).

In conclusion, the Burmese Pythons will survive in any place in the United States of America as studies they can dwell both on fresh and salt waters (Mccleery et al., 2015). Due to this adaptability, they would multiply in all conditions increasing their numbers. The authorities from all these places will have to put serious measures to stop their spread otherwise they would still increase in number endangering the native species.

References

1. Cubie, D. (2009). Everglades Invasion. Everglades Invasion National Wildlife, 47(2), 24-30. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
2. Dinerstein, E. (2012). Faculty of 1000 evaluation for Severe mammal declines coincides with the proliferation of invasive Burmese pythons in Everglades National Park. F1000 – Post-publication peer review of the biomedical literature, 109, 2418-2422. doi:10.3410/f.717297810.792652813
3. T. (2012). Effects of invasive Burmese pythons in Everglades National Park. AccessScience, 79, 28. doi:10.1036/1097-8542.yb140237
4. Hart, K. M., Cherkiss, M. S., Smith, B. J., Mazzotti, F. J., Fujisaki, I., Snow, R. W., & Dorcas, M. E. (2015). Home range, habitat use, and movement patterns of non-native Burmese pythons in Everglades National Park, Florida, USA. Animal Biotelemetry, 3(1), 8. doi:10.1186/s40317-015-0022-2
5. Mazzotti, F. J., Best, G. R., Brandt, L. A., Cherkiss, M. S., Jeffery, B. M., & Rice, K. G. (2009). Alligators and crocodiles as indicators for restoration of Everglades ecosystems. Ecological Indicators, 9(6), 137-149. doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2008.06.008
6. McCleery, R. A., Sovie, A., Reed, R. N., Cunningham, M. W., Hunter, M. E., & Hart, K. M. (2015). Marsh rabbit mortalities tie pythons to the precipitous decline of mammals in the Everglades. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 282(1805), 20150120-20150120. doi:10.1098/rspb.2015.0120
7. Reed, R. N. (2005). An Ecological Risk Assessment of Non-native Boas and Pythons as Potentially Invasive Species in the United States. Risk Analysis, 25(3), 753-766. doi:10.1111/j.1539-6924.2005.00621.x
8. Reed, R. N., Willson, J. D., Rodda, G. H., & Dorcas, M. E. (2012). Ecological correlates of invasion impact for Burmese pythons in Florida. Integrative Zoology, 7(3), 254-270. doi:10.1111/j.1749-4877.2012.00304.x
9. Smith, B. J., Cherkiss, M. S., Hart, K. M., Rochford, M. R., Selby, T. H., Snow, R. W., & Mazzotti, F. J. (2016). Betrayal: radio-tagged Burmese pythons reveal locations of conspecifics in Everglades National Park. Biological Invasions, 18(11), 3239-3250. doi:10.1007/s10530-016-1211-5
10. Willson, J. D., Dorcas, M. E., & Snow, R. W. (2010). Identifying plausible scenarios for the establishment of invasive Burmese pythons (Python molurus) in Southern Florida. Biological Invasions, 13(7), 1493-1504. doi:10.1007/s10530-010-9908-3