Python 'hot spot' identified in Palm Beach County by University of Florida study
Palm Beach County's wild southern reaches of spikey cattail marsh are harboring a hot spot for the state's most abhorred invasive species.
University of Florida researchers looking to unlock the perfect equation for successfully hunting Burmese pythons studied the time, day, weather and hunting grounds of state contractors working to reduce the spread of the voracious constrictor.
While many hunters were found to catch an abundance of pythons in specific condensed areas along the edges of Everglades National Park, and south of Biscayne National Park, there were two locations that stood out as spots where a limited number of hunters were racking up lots of pythons.
One area was along the western edge of Big Cypress National Preserve in Collier County.
The other was in Palm Beach County's stormwater treatment area 3-4, which is about 24 miles south of Belle Glade and adjacent to the Holey Land Wildlife Management Area.
If a few hunters are catching a lot of pythons in the stormwater treatment area, then increasing the number of hunters there should yield even more results, researchers reason.
'That's definitely an area where we need to get more folks out there because it offers a high probability of being successful,' said Melissa Miller, an invasion ecologist with UF's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. 'It used to be, a decade ago, you wouldn't find many pythons in that area.'
Stormwater treatment areas are manmade marshes whose plants remove phosphorus and other chemicals from water before it makes its way south through the Everglades.
More: Grand prize winner of 2024 Florida Python Challenge announced
The UF study, which was published in the journal Scientific Reports last month, analyzed two year's worth of data collected during 16,000 hours of hunting. Hunter movements are tracked by GPS. That information was then correlated with weather conditions based on the South Florida Water Management District's meteorological monitoring stations.
In addition to identifying python hot spots, the study found the optimal time to hunt pythons was between 8 p.m. and 2 a.m. during the May to October wet season. The month of August had the highest number of catches.
Using aquatic vehicles such as airboats enhances hunting efficiency, the study noted. And while nighttime hunts are generally more successful, that's not true during cold snaps when the average daily temperature is 50 degrees or lower. On chilly days, pythons will often slink out of the underbrush to sun themselves on levees or roads.
Alexander Romer, a quantitative biologist who worked on the study, said what researchers found removes some of the guesswork from python hunting.
'We took everyone's data and based on that we can say these are the best conditions to catch a snake,' Romer said.
More: Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge goes on offense to fight invasive Burmese python spread
The Burmese python invasion started with releases — intentional or not — of captive snakes, which likely gained a foothold in Everglades National Park by the mid-1980s, according to the 2021 Florida Python Control plan. By 2000, multiple generations of pythons were living in the park, which is noted in a more than 100-page U.S. Geological Survey report from 2023 that summarized decades of python research.
The report also notes that pythons have moved progressively north, including into areas surrounding Lake Okeechobee.
Outside of the recent study, Romer said he looked at the demographics of pythons captured in Palm Beach County's hot spot and found them to be larger snakes.
'They are adults, and that kind of suggests that it's an area you are having dispersal into,' he said. 'Those animals are moving there, but it's unclear how much reproduction is going on.'
In Palm Beach County, 69 pythons have been captured since 2006, according to the Early Detection and Distribution Mapping System, or EDDMapS. In addition, four have been found dead, and 24 sightings have been reported.
The water management district has focused some of its efforts south of the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge west of Boynton Beach, hoping to keep the pythons out of the only intact remnant of the northern Everglades.
Hunters generally earn an hourly rate of $13. But incentive pay of $30 an hour is offered in the refuge as an effort to bring more hunters into an area where they are less likely to find a plethora of snakes. Stormwater treatment areas pay $18 an hour.
There are no reliable estimates of python abundance in Florida, the 2023 report says. It also noted that "eradication of the entire population across the landscape is not possible with any existing tools."
'You can't give up though. There is too much at stake,' Miller said. 'Maybe the tools we have right now are not going to eradicate pythons, but in keeping going and trying and exploring new methods, one day I hope there will be a tool that will help.'
To report an invasive species to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, call 1-888-483-4681, or 1-888-Ive-Got1.
Kimberly Miller is a journalist for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today Network of Florida. She covers real estate, weather, and the environment. Subscribe to The Dirt for a weekly real estate roundup. If you have news tips, please send them to kmiller@pbpost.com. Help support our local journalism; subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Palm Beach County has a python hot spot found by the University of Florida
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Summer Snake Series: Dusty pygmy rattlesnake is on Florida's venomous list
There are more than 40 species of snakes that are native to Florida, but only six of them are venomous. This week The News-Press and Naples Daily News is taking a closer look at each of these snakes for a special series. Snakes are most active in the spring and early summer months, when the weather warms up and they emerge from brumation, which is similar to hibernation. As it starts to heat up for the summer in Florida, you might see more of your slithery neighbors gliding through your grass or across your driveway. But not every snake is a threat. Here's a closer look at today's featured venomous snake: Dusky pygmy rattlesnakes, also known as pygmy rattlesnakes, have a dark or light gray body, with row of black or charcoal blotches along the length of its body and a reddish-brown stripe running down the middle of the back. Their bites are very painful, but not life-threatening. They can be found throughout the entire state, but aren't known to occur in the Florida Keys, according to the Florida Museum. According to the University of Florida IFAS website, these snakes live in natural wooded areas but can sometimes be found in neightborhoods. To see photos and more in-depth descriptions on these and Florida's native, harmless snakes, visit the Florida Museum's guide for identifying the state's snakes. This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Is Florida's Dusty pygmy rattlesnake venomous?
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Chrononutrition guide: Is when you eat as important as what you eat?
Americans have long heard about the health benefits of adhering to diets rich in fresh produce and whole grains and low in red meat and processed sugars. But they may not be aware of how meal timing can affect their health. A recent publication from the UF/IFAS department of food science and human nutrition describes chrononutrition, an emerging field of study that connects eating with circadian rhythm, the body's 24-hour internal clock. How someone schedules meals throughout the day can impact their weight and body mass index (BMI) as well as increase their odds of developing cardiometabolic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, according to the authors of the publication, an Ask IFAS guide. 'Healthy eating is not only what you eat but also how much you eat and when,' said doctoral candidate Kaylyn Koons, the publication's lead author. Franz Halberg, a Romanian-born physician, introduced the idea of chrononutrition in 1967. The concept is based on the premise that the sleep and wake cycle regulates bodily functions, including metabolism and digestion, so the timing, frequency and consistency of food intake affects health. There is a broad range of eating behaviors that influence chrononutrition, according to the UF/IFAS guide. One of the key behaviors relates to the 'eating window,' the time frame between the first meal of the day and the last. Optimizing that window — typically between 8 and 12 hours — could realign food intake with the circadian clock. In fact, a systematic review of studies on time-restricted eating with an eating window of 12 hours or less found an average weight loss of 3%, along with reductions in fasting blood glucose, systolic blood pressure, waist circumference, and LDL cholesterol levels. Many eating behaviors related to poor chrononutrition center around evening food consumption. Eating at or after 8 p.m. is associated with weight gain and metabolic disorders, for example. Potential reasons include the prevalence of poorer food choices at night and late eaters' propensity to stay up late, which can negatively impact sleep. Evening latency, the amount of time that lapses between eating the last meal of the day and sleeping, can also play a part, according to the guide. It describes a 2023 study of Malaysian college students which found that those who didn't observe a delay between eating dinner and sleeping were more likely to be underweight. 'This finding may seem counterintuitive because you might expect this behavior would reduce energy expenditure and promote weight gain rather than weight loss,' Koons said. 'But it could be associated with other adverse chrononutrition habits such as skipping meals or irregular meal timing, which lead to an overall reduced calorie intake.' Koons recommends anyone desiring to improve their chrononutrition examine their eating behaviors and identify chrononutrition-related behaviors that may be negatively affecting their health. Then they can set attainable goals to reduce the frequency of those behaviors. Patience is key, however, she said. 'Eating habits tend to be ingrained in routine and become habitual,' Koons said. 'It's important to remember that behavior change is difficult, and it takes time.' This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: When you eat may be as important as what you eat
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Battle against invasive pythons enjoys record season, and a milestone
The battle against the invasive Burmese python by the Conservancy of Southwest Florida reached a milestone after a record removal season. The removal season coincides with the breeding season of the python from November through April, with the Conservancy staff tracking 40 pythons, known as scout snakes that help in locating reproductive pythons. There was a record 6,300 pounds of the invasive snake removed this season, bringing the total to a hefty milestone of more than 20 tons of Burmese pythons removed from a 200-square-mile area in Southwest Florida since 2013, the Conservancy announced. 'We have been on the front line of the invasive python battle for more than a decade,' said Ian Bartoszek, wildlife biologist and Conservancy Science Project Manager, who oversees the python program. 'Removing more than 40,000 pounds of snake, carried out through some of Florida's unrelenting wildlife habitats, is a heavy-lifting assignment. But, through years of dedicated research, we've developed science-based methods to track this apex predator more effectively and mitigate its damage to our native wildlife population.' The Conservancy uses radio telemetry to track the tagged male pythons across a 200-square-mile area of public and private land from Naples through the Western Everglades. Since 2013, the team has stopped an additional 20,000 python eggs from hatching. The program is expected to expand into new areas, as the long-term monitoring has shown signs of positive effectiveness, as scout snakes are increasingly struggling to locate mates, or when they do, they are smaller in size. 'The Burmese python is decimating native wildlife across their invaded range,' said Rob Moher, President and CEO of the CSF. 'Here at the Conservancy, we also rehabilitate thousands of injured native animals in the von Arx Wildlife Hospital and release them back into the wild each year. The python team's work of reducing the local population of the invasive snake allows our native wildlife safer conditions to recover.' Also on FTW Outdoors: Texas fisherman catches record bass, releases it 3 months later The Conservancy's python program is one of the leading research and removal initiatives globally. It is credited with capturing the largest female python ever documented to date; it measured 18 feet and weighed 215 pounds. It also captured the largest male python on record at 16 feet and 140 pounds. 'Burmese pythons are impressive creatures that are here from no fault of their own,' Bartoszek said. 'As wildlife biologists, we have tremendous respect for all snake species. However, we understand the impact invasive pythons are having on the biodiversity in our area, and we humanely remove them from the ecosystem as part of the Conservancy's commitment to protecting our water, land, wildlife, and future.' This article originally appeared on For The Win: Battle against invasive pythons enjoys record season, and a milestone
