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
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Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Tons of fun. Naples python program passes 42,000 pounds of Burmese python caught
The Conservancy of Southwest Florida has one of the world's premiere Burmese python research, detection and removal programs, and this past season the python team there literally caught tons of snakes. More than 6,300 pounds of Burmese python were tracked and removed by the team, which has removed more than 40,000 pounds of invasive snake across a 200-square-mile area since 2013. Based in Naples, the program includes biologists, interns and volunteers who use radio telemetry to track male "scout" snakes, which basically go out and find breeding-sized females. Since its inception, workers there have removed more than 11,500 feet of Burmese python, which is about 2 miles. The average snake caught has measured 12.6 feet in length, and the program has removed 277 breeding females. The Burmese python has a diet of more than 80 species, according to the Conservancy. The snakes are removed and handled in a humane fashion, and the biologists later dissect many of the specimens to see what exactly is in their digestive tracts. They also want to know about any egg-bearing females. Conservancy biologist Ian Bartoszek gave a presentation May 15 at the Naples Zoo to a crowd of about 50 snake and conservation enthusiasts. The following captures much of his discussion on pythons and what the audience heard Bartoszek say during is presentation: We've been in the field for well over a decade tracking this animal and uh, it's an intense animal, an impressive creature. There is a good chance we have more Burmese pythons in south Florida than they may have remaining in southeast Asia. That's an important point to keep in mind when you see like skin trade and things like that talked about because we could be putting undue pressure on them in the future. Their superpower is they get big quick. Over 100,000 Burmese pythons were brought in from the pet trade since the '70s, and it was a perfect storm of conditions, whether they were released, escaped pets or hurricanes came through and knocked out breeding facilities, um, you can circle all the above as to how the python became established. No two patterns are alike. I have a lot of respect for this creature, and as a biologist I don't really like having to do that. We can't put these in the zoos, there's no room and their genetics are a bit different than their home in southeast Asia, and they have different parasites and pathogens. We go where the pythons go. We've had a tracking program since 2013, and we've tracked over 120 adults and 92 hatchlings. We removed over 1,500 pythons, big pythons, weighing over 42,000 pounds. 21 tons of snake have come from this area with two biologists and a few interns and volunteers. You can't make this up. It reads out of a science fiction novel. More: Warmer temperatures, cold-tolerant adaptations means Burmese pythons may reach Georgia If you told me 15 years ago that we would be tracking one of the largest snakes on the planet, removing 21 tons, I would think it was crazy. But this is what we're seeing out there. It's intense. So, constrictor snake, semi-aquatic, apex predator, and while I was watching this, the closest analogy I have to what it looked like kind of standing over it, it looked like a whale coming up breaching, a baleen whale in the ocean as to how wide that mouth go. We watched this unfold. We did remove the deer. We weighed the deer, and it was 77 pounds. But we got some science out of this as well. A visiting researcher measured the gape, the maximum circumference of the animal swallowing that. That was 32 inches in circumference. It's just, uh, insane if you think about it. And that's the largest gape recorded on the python to date as well. There's been many firsts on this project ― largest one caught, largest male caught, measured the gape and some other things. Just an impressive beast that we're up against. Don't underestimate the python is one of the take-home messages. They never cease to amaze me, their impact. Impressive species. When we first saw it, we thought, geez that could be a panther. We brought in the state experts, and they found some hair and identified it as a bobcat, so that specific animal had a bobcat and right behind it was an opossum. So, they really don't discriminate. Others have had black-crowned night herons and foxes in the same digestive track, surf and turf. More: Bobcat kills massive Burmese python, returns to feed on its carcass in Florida Everglades Python's digestion is the studied the world over, they have incredible physiology, more than I'm aware of. We talked with National Geographic a few times. They were in the lab two weeks ago and we did a necropsy with them of a large snake, and we were able to show them the remains of white-tailed deer in there and they captured that on film, which I think that will be great for viewers in the future. Why does this matter? White-tailed deer are the primary prey of the Florida panther. You have an endangered subspecies of the Eastern cougar here and insert an invasive predator gobbling up their food source, I'm not sure that's going to help the situation. (We use) VHF radio transmitters. We don't have satellite collars on pythons. We have really adapted to that. The tech isn't there. So, we use this World War II era technology, and, um, it works. It's pretty creepy that, you know, at the end of that beeping is a giant snake usually. But that's what we look for and that's what I enjoy, especially in the breeding season. That could be a pile of giant snakes. It started as a research program to understand where these animals were moving and very quickly, we started to see that the boys were finding the girls in breeding season. What if we tracked more males to find snakes? More: Scout pythons help scientists battle spread of giant snakes as program passes 10th year We're figuring out as we go, but we know our neighborhood and we know how the pythons are behaving outside of town. I believe we're actually doing python management. We're really pushing back on the snakes. They don't care about political boundaries. They don't really want to go into the urban zone if they don't have to, but they will. They'll follow corridors. Nobody has come into our lab yet and showed us a better way to find female pythons off-grid and remove them. The day they do I will hand them the baton, I will wish them well, pour a picture of beer or something and then off to the next thing. This is a lot of heavy lifting. A lot of flight time and field time. We're hacking trails. We're getting the intel. It's like special operations, special forces. We call our male snakes with transmitters scouts. It kind of rolls off the tongue well and those scouts will find us the larger breeding females or get us into close proximity and then we have to search it out. It's not so easy. These animals are not interested in us. They're interested in our native wildlife. So, it's just an amazing creature and if you have a little bit of understanding and realize they're not into us, I've walked in on thousands of python observations, and they've never been interested in me. They just want to get away. More: GoPro video of Florida python slithering through grass provides an exhilarating ride Of course, if you grab them, they're going to tell you about it. They don't want to be grabbed. And they're going to fight back. It's pretty amazing that you can wrangle and apex predator like this, put it in a bag, tie it up and on to the next one. It's crazy. Largest female, largest male and some other things here as well on the project. When I say we removed over 1,400 snakes weighing over 42,000 pounds, that really shows you the volume of the biomass that we're pulling out. We're after the high-value targets until we find a better method to target the rest of them as well. This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Naples-area python program passes 1,400 snakes since inception in 2013
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- 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
USA Today
10-06-2025
- USA Today
Battle against invasive pythons enjoys record season, and a milestone
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.'
