Latest news with #ConservancyofSouthwestFlorida
Miami Herald
an hour ago
- Science
- Miami Herald
Battle to eradicate invasive pythons in Florida achieves stunning milestone
A startling milestone has been reached in Florida's war against the invasive Burmese pythons eating their way across the Everglades. The Conservancy of Southwest Florida reports it has captured and humanely killed 20 tons of the snakes since 2013, including a record 6,300 pounds of pythons killed this past breeding season, according to a June 9 news release. To put that in perspective, 20 tons — or 40,000 pounds — is a mound of snakes the size of a fire truck ... or a fully loaded city bus. What's startling is those 1,400 snakes didn't come from a statewide culling. They came from a 200-square-mile area in southwestern Florida, the conservancy reports. The greater Everglades ecosystem, where the snakes are thriving, covers more than 7,800 square miles, according to wildlife biologist Ian Bartoszek, the Conservancy Science Project Manager who oversees the python program. It's estimated tens of thousands of pythons are roaming the region, the U.S. Geological Survey says. 'I guess the real question is what did it take in native animals to make 20 tons of python? ... It still amazes me how big these animals get and how many of them are out there,' Bartoszek told McClatchy News in a phone interview. 'Pythons have indeterminate growth and the more they eat, the larger they become. On this project we have captured the largest female by weight at just under 18 (feet) but weighing a massive 215 pounds and the largest male at 16 (feet) and 140 pounds. Their size is a reflection of the available prey base. We probably grow them larger in Southwest Florida because we still have deer and medium-sized mammals for them to prey upon. In portions of the eastern Everglades, it is likely the reverse.' University of Florida researchers have identified 85 species of birds and mammals (including reptiles) that are being eaten by pythons in the Everglades, leading to fears they are decimating some native mammal populations, Bartoszek says. Southwestern Florida's wetlands are like a buffet for pythons, putting the region and the conservancy on the front lines. It's only with the help of technology that the conservancy has gained ground since starting the python program in 2013, Bartoszek says. This includes a scout snake program that fits radio telemetry trackers on 40 male pythons, so they can be tracked to reproductive females during mating season (November through April). Those females are humanely euthanized and the tagged males are freed to track down more females. The program has prevented more than 20,000 python eggs from hatching, the conservancy says. 'Long-term monitoring has shown signs of positive effectiveness of these efforts, as scout snakes increasingly struggle to locate mates or the females they find are smaller in size,' the conservancy says. Bartoszek's team, which includes biologist Ian Easterling, made headlines in 2024 when it walked up on a 115-pound python swallowing a 77-pound deer. That amounted to 66.9% of the snake's body mass and proved they are eating larger prey in Florida. The female python captured and swallowed the live deer in less than an hour, the team concluded. Among the other disconcerting discoveries made: The snakes are expanding their range. They are well established in counties along Florida's southeastern and southwestern coasts and sightings are now being reported near Lake Okeechobee, Bartoszek says. That's about a 110-mile drive northwest from Miami. 'The Burmese python always continues to surprise me and I have an internal memory reel of all the firsts we have seen on the project. The most visceral ones are when we see first hand what they are consuming,' Bartoszek said. 'But those are counterbalanced by seeing native wildlife fighting back, like when we discovered a bobcat that had predated upon one of our scout snakes. Or when we had tracked hatchling pythons over many summers and would eventually be tracking the predators that consumed them, including an endangered eastern Indigo snake. Those feels like wins for the home team when you get to see the Everglades fighting back.' Burmese pythons are native to southeastern Asia, but they began appearing in Florida in the 1970s, according to the South Florida Water Management District. It's suspected the snakes were pets, and they were either released by their owners or escaped captivity, the district says. 'The Burmese python is decimating native wildlife across their invaded range. ... The python team's work of reducing the local population of the invasive snake allows our native wildlife safer conditions to recover,' said Rob Moher, Conservancy of Southwest Florida president and CEO. The Conservancy of Southwest Florida is an environmental organization based in Naples that works to protect natural resources and wildlife in Collier, Lee, Charlotte, Hendry and Glades counties. It collaborates with the U.S. Geological Survey, National Park Service, University of Florida, Florida Fish and Wildlife, South Florida Water Management District, Rookery Bay Research Reserve and Naples Zoo.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Time of India
Burmese Python, 13-foot long, killed by Florida bobcat in Everglades; first recorded case
Burmese Python, 13-foot long, killed by Florida bobcat in Everglades; first recorded case In a rare and surprising turn of events, a Florida bobcat was captured on camera taking down a 13-foot Burmese python in a bold and unusual attack. Burmese pythons are wreaking havoc on the Everglades ecosystem, but some native animals have been known to prey on the enormous reptiles. Wildlife biologists say the encounter could be a significant development in the battle between native predators in Florida's Everglades. The snake's remains were found near the city of Naples in December 2022 by Ian Bartoszek, a wildlife biologist of the Conservancy of Southwest Florida. The researchers are studying how native predators are adapting to invasive snakes - and possibly seeing them as a new food source. 13-foot Burmese python killed by a Florida bobcat Bartoszek's team was tracking Loki, a 13-foot long, 52 pound scout snake. They expected to find Loki with a female python. Instead, they found his remains- partially buried under pine needles. Bartoszek, who had tracked Loki through six breeding seasons said, 'It was a bit sad and a bit exciting at the same time. We sort of treated it as a bit of a CSI crime scene'. The team started to look for evidence and clues as to what had killed the massive snake. The way Loki's neck was chewed and head buried, pointed to a native predator: a Florida bobcat. Soon after, the trail camera confirmed the suspicion, capturing footage of the scene. Burmese Pythons in Florida: A growing threat Native to Southeast Asia, Burmese pythons first arrived in America in the 1990s and early 2000s as part of the exotic pet trade. But as the number of snakes grew, some pet owners felt like they could not keep them, and released them into the wild. Burmese pythons are non-native apex predators that have wreaked havoc on Florida's delicate ecosystem since escaping or being released into the wild decades ago. Known to eat a variety of animals—including deer, raccoons, birds, and even bobcats—they've drastically reduced populations of many native species in the Everglades. What led to the kill, weather may have played a role According to biologists, the bobcat may have taken advantage of a rare opportunity. Just days before Loki was found dead, a cold snap hit South Florida. As a cold-blooded reptile, the python may have been vulnerable outside of its burrow, making it an easy target for a bold bobcat. While pythons are known to prey on bobcats, this role reversal could indicate that native predators are adapting to the presence of the invasive snakes. Florida wildlife conservation: A concern The incident is being seen as an important step to manage Florida's increasing python population. Since 2013, Bartoszek and his team have followed male pythons to help locate and remove breeding females, helping to slow their spread. Now, with native animals starting to treat pythons as their prey, this could mark a beginning to fight back and restore ecological balance in the Everglades. Researchers are still collecting evidence and looking for trends in how predators like bobcats and bears. '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.' Also read | 47-million-year-old snake found may be the biggest ever, surpassing Titanoboa
Time of India
5 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
6 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
7 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."
