Latest news with #Bartoszek
Time of India
2 days ago
- Science
- Time of India
Bobcat takes down 13-foot Burmese python in Florida, experts shocked
Wildlife just threw us a plot twist straight out of National Geographic (or honestly, a Florida-style action movie). In a rare and wild encounter deep in the Everglades, a bobcat took down a massive 13-foot Burmese python, and we're all here for this unexpected comeback story. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now It happened near Naples, Florida, in December 2022. Wildlife biologist Ian Bartoszek and his team from the Conservancy of Southwest Florida were tracking a tagged python named Loki—a 52-pound, 13-foot-long "scout snake" used to find breeding female pythons. These snakes are part of a broader effort to control the invasive Burmese python population that's wreaking havoc in Florida's delicate ecosystem. But instead of finding Loki snuggled up with a lady python, Bartoszek stumbled upon a murder scene straight out of CSI: Wildlife Edition. Loki was dead—head gone, neck chewed, and the severed part was buried under pine needles like some kind of ritual. 'We've been following Loki through six breeding seasons. It was kind of sad and exciting at the same time,' Bartoszek said. So what creature could take down a monster snake like that? Bartoszek suspected a bobcat or maybe even a Florida panther. To get answers, he reached out to wild cat expert David Shindle from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and they set up a trail cam. Sure enough, the very next morning, the killer returned—on camera. An adult bobcat casually strolled in to sniff around the scene, probably checking if its midnight snack was still there. And just like that, the mystery was solved. Now here's the cool part: normally, Burmese pythons eat bobcats, not the other way around. But this time, Mother Nature had other plans. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now A cold snap had hit the area, which might've left the cold-blooded python too sluggish to defend itself. It was a golden opportunity for the bobcat, and it took it. Bartoszek described it as a win for native predators. 'Score one for the home team,' he said. And honestly, we love to see it. This isn't a one-time fluke either. Bartoszek's team later found another python killed during a cold snap—this time, probably by a black bear. So it looks like native predators are finally figuring out how to fight back against the python invasion. Over time, this could be a game-changer. As Florida's ecosystem fights to rebalance itself, bobcats, bears, and other native animals are learning that pythons can be dinner—not just danger.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
A Bobcat (Probably) Decapitated a Giant Python in the Everglades. That's a Good Thing
A team of python trackers and removal experts in South Florida have found evidence of a bobcat decapitating and feeding on one of the giant, invasive snakes in a python-infested area near Naples. Judging from the other clues they found, they say it's likely that the bobcat also killed the python, a 13-footer that weighed more than 50 pounds. This would be a promising development — proof that Florida's native critters are, in some cases, adapting to the presence of Burmese pythons, which have no natural predators in the state and are wreaking havoc on wildlife populations in the Everglades. 'The list of species [being impacted by these snakes] is up to around 85,' says Ian Bartoszek, the lead researcher who along with his team found the python that was fed on (and possibly killed) by a bobcat in December 2022. 'It's easier to make a list of what pythons are not eating, than it is to list all the animals that have been found inside pythons to date.' A wildlife biologist and the science coordinator for the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, Bartoszek has spent more than 12 years tracking and hunting Burmese pythons in the area, so he knows what the predators are capable of. In October his team published the first-ever photographs of a python swallowing a full-sized whitetail deer in Florida. The photos proved his long-held suspicions that the snakes are literally 'eating their way through the food web' of the Everglades. (That long list of species includes alligators, too, as other researchers have found.) This is why, Bartoszek says, the discovery of a giant python being fed on and potentially killed by a native predator was so encouraging. 'It's a score for the home team. The Everglades are fighting back.' The discovery itself took place in December 2022 on some conservation land near Naples, in a region that Bartoszek identifies as the Western Everglades. This is where he and his team at the Conservancy focus their efforts, which entail tracking, killing, and removing as many pythons (especially large females) as possible. They do this primarily during the winter breeding season, and they use telemetry equipment and male pythons fitted with tracking devices — also known as 'scout snakes' — to locate the big females. Bartoszek explains that he, fellow researcher Ian Easterling, and some interns were tracking a large male scout snake they named 'Loki' that afternoon in December. They'd seen Loki just days before and he was in prime condition, Bartoszek says. But as they approached Loki's signal to get a closer look, they realized the 52-pound, 13-foot-long snake was not only dead. It was missing its head. 'We started seeing the clues around us. And it was like, wait a second, that animal is buried under the pine needles,' Bartoszek tells Outdoor Life. 'This is a kill site.' He says this realization quickly outweighed the initial disappointment he felt when they found the dead male snake, which had been part of the tracking program for over six years and was one of their best scouts. 'We started to pull away some of the pine needles, and we realized that the head and neck area had been chewed off and cached — which, to my knowledge, caching is typically a feline behavior in our area,' Bartoszek says. 'So we were pretty sure it was a cat.' Bartoszek's money was on a Florida panther, or at least that's what he wanted to believe. He contacted David Shindle, the Florida panther coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and a former colleague of his at the Conservancy. Shindle went out to the site and set up a cellular trail camera, and the next morning, he emailed Bartoszek a short video clip that the trail cam had captured. It showed an adult bobcat returning to the cache to feed on the giant snake. 'So, I lost the bet,' Bartoszek says. 'But it was probably even more interesting that it was a bobcat, because they're more common.' As a researcher, Bartoszek is not one to jump to conclusions. He says they're 'fairly certain' that the bobcat killed the big python, but it's also possible that the snake died of other causes and the cat happened to find it soon afterward. Bobcats are primarily hunters, although studies have shown they will occasionally scavenge dead animals. Read Next: Florida Python Trackers Remove Two Giant Mating Balls in Record Day of Snake Hunting Bartoszek says there had been a cold snap in the area between the time they saw Loki 'in prime condition' and when they found the snake decapitated. Because they are cold-blooded, freezing weather can and does kill pythons and other reptiles. Bartoszek, however, doesn't think it got cold enough to actually kill the python. What's more likely, he says, is that the snake was cold-stunned and unable to defend itself from the bobcat, even though the cat was only half its size. (The average weight for a bobcat in South Florida is around 25 pounds, according to Shindle.) 'I would have loved to have seen that encounter,' Bartoszek says. 'The possibility of a 25-pound bobcat taking down and killing a 52-pound, 13-foot Burmese python is impressive. And I like animals that punch above their weight class.'
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Florida bobcat bites the head off of 13-foot Burmese python in the Everglades
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A Florida bobcat has managed to take down a Burmese python in what wildlife biologists are calling a win for native Everglades predators. Scientists are still investigating how and when local predators face off against the invasive snakes, but the finding hints that native species are learning to take advantage of the competition as a potential food source. The snake's remains were found near the city of Naples in December 2022 by wildlife biologist Ian Bartoszek of the Conservancy of Southwest Florida. Since 2013, he and his colleagues have used radio trackers to keep tabs on male Burmese pythons, and during breeding season, these male "scout" snakes lead researchers to fertile female snakes and their eggs. From there, researchers remove and euthanize the reptiles in an attempt to cull the invasive population. On that chilly December day, Bartoszek's team was tracking Loki, a 13 foot (4 meters) long, 52 pound (23.5 kilogram) scout snake. They expected to find Loki holed up with a female python. Instead, they found his freshly slain body, with the head and neck gnawed off and buried beneath pine needles nearby. "It was a bit sad and a bit exciting at the same time," said Bartoszek, who had tracked Loki through six breeding seasons. "We sort of treated it as a bit of a CSI crime scene." The team immediately started to look for clues as to what had killed the massive snake. The way Loki's neck had been chewed and his head buried suggested a large cat — either a bobcat or a Florida panther — as the culprit. Bartoszek contacted wild cat expert David Shindle, of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, who set up a trail cam near the kill site in case the cat came back for its buried meal. The next morning, it did — and its behavior was caught on video. "All of a sudden, out of the background, an adult bobcat comes walking in across a log," Bartoszek described. "You could see it sort of sniffing the air, probably picking up on our scent, seeing what information it was clueing-in to, and basically returning to the kill site." Burmese pythons have been known to eat bobcats, but Bartoszek suspects this particular bobcat seized an opportunity to pick off Loki while he was incapacitated. A cold snap had hit southern Florida a few days before the scientists found the snake's remains. And since male snakes are usually out and about looking for females during breeding season, the chilly weather may have left the cold-blooded Loki stunned and sluggish, far from his usual warm burrow and unable to fight off the predator. Working on the front lines of these wildlife studies offers the chance to observe new and interesting predator-prey interactions, Bartoszek told Live Science. "It felt like 'score one for the home team,' where our native animals are fighting back," he said. "That's a good sign." These kinds of predation events are likely becoming more common in the Everglades, Bartoszek said. His team found the remains of a different scout snake after another cold snap earlier this season, this one likely killed by a black bear. RELATED STORIES —Why do cats bring home dead animals? —'An up-tempo version of Darwinian evolution': How a mega freeze in Florida may have caused Burmese pythons to evolve at a blindingly fast speed —'Truly primal': Watch Burmese python swallow deer whole in Florida Everglades by stretching its mouth to the absolute limit Researchers are still collecting evidence and looking for trends in how predators like bobcats and bears might be turning the tables on pythons. "There's a bit of a pattern emerging that — and you'd expect as much — over time, the ecosystem is rebalancing itself. It's fighting back," Bartoszek said. "These native predators are recognizing Burmese pythons as a new food source and are able to take advantage of some of their vulnerabilities."
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Experts stunned by discovery partially buried deep in the Florida Everglades: 'There's only two things that will do that'
Wildlife officials in Collier County have been investigating a mysterious death in the Everglades, and they now say their findings are good news when it comes to managing invasive species. Back in December, biologists were tracking pythons near Naples, in pursuit of a 13-foot-long, 52-pound male Burmese python named Loki. Loki was what the team called a "scout snake," fitted with a transmitter for monitoring. Expecting to find Loki "shacked up with a big fertile female during breeding season," the team intended to "remove and euthanize" female snakes and their egg follicles to keep the invasive snake population under control. What they found was something out of a police procedural, per WBBH. "Very quickly we figured out he's dead, and it turned into a bit of a crime scene to some degree — CSI crime scene, wildlife," quipped biologist Ian Bartoszek. Loki was found with his "head and neck gnawed off" and his "body partially buried," an animal behavior wildlife experts call "caching" — hiding and storing a food source for ongoing use. Bartoszek quickly put two and two together after assessing the scene. "There's only two things that will do that, to my knowledge — a bobcat and a panther," WFLA quoted him as saying. In conjunction with the United States Fish & Wildlife Service, the team placed trail cameras at the site, and soon enough, the culprit — a bobcat — returned to the scene of the crime. According to Bartoszek, the whodunit amounted to a "win" in terms of conservation. As the name suggests, invasive species — whether flora or fauna — throw ecosystems out of whack, to the detriment of native plants and animals. Non-native organisms are not invasive by default; invasive species adapt readily to a new environment, reproduce quickly, and "outcompete" their native neighbors. Should the government be paying people to hunt invasive species? Definitely Depends on the animal No way Just let people do it for free Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. "A 25-pound cat killed and cached a 52-pound python? That's a win for the home team," Bartoszek began. "We all tend to like animals that punch above their weight class." "Here was a native animal pushing back against an invasive apex predator," he added. "The Everglades is fighting back. That gives me hope." Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
60+ businesses pitch to over 2,000 students during Fox Cities Chamber Career Expo
APPLETON, Wis. (WFRV) – Day one of the 2025 Fox Cities Chamber Career Expo kicked off on Tuesday morning, offering students from 8th grade to high school seniors a chance to explore future careers in numerous fields. Over 2,000 students across the Fox Cities attended to meet with 65 businesses that set up booths, varying from healthcare, information systems, manufacturing, engineering, human resources and more. Green Bay Metro Fire Department mourns passing of former Captain who served 27 years The following schools participated: Appleton North High School Classical School Einstein Middle School Fox River Academy Freedom Faith Academy Freedom High School GPS Ed Homeschool James Madison Middle School Kaleidoscope Academy Kimberly High School LAB Academy Little Chute Flex Academy Little Chute Middle School New London Middle School Project SEARCH Internship Program Stockbridge High School Stockbridge Middle School Valley New School Wilson/Magellan Middle School Winneconne High School Winneconne Middle School Wrightstown High School Fox Cities Chamber President and CEO Becky Bartoszek said it's an annual event that serves about 2.5 counties with 17 municipalities. Each school was grouped at the beginning for a presentation to learn about non-verbal communications, which can be helpful during job interviews and in everyday life. 'They hear from a body language expert who talks about what your handshake should be like or how your hands should be posed while talking to a future employer,' Bartoszek said. 'Then they talk with employers in varying fields and higher education.' Bartoszek added that the event is important to host annually because the economy grows by inviting young people to 'take our jobs' one day. 15th year of Packers program sees 350 trees donated and planted in 15 local communities 'If we can get in front of these students as early as middle school and high school to share that connection with employers and opportunities that exist, there's a better chance that the next generation of the workforce will be better off,' Bartoszek said. Click here to visit the Fox Cities Chamber website with more details on all of the businesses that attended the event, which continues on Wednesday. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
