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Environment | Animals
Florida’s Invasive Pythons Might Be Stopped by Dogs, Bobcats, and Alligators
How Florida’s wildlife is starting to fight back against these mega pythons.
The python problem truly began on August 24th, 1992.
I was nearby — and the day had started off great.
The rain started around 6 PM. The wind rose to a prolonged howl around 10 PM. It got louder until 2 AM. The house was whistling as the air pushed into tiny openings in doors, windows ceils, and even through the roof.
100 miles south, an illegal Burmese python storage facility was hit with more severe weather.
I stepped outside the next morning to see a redecorated neighborhood.
Trees were toppled. Powerlines were dragged to the ground, ripped forcefully from their womb with the roots dangling out on all sides. Meanwhile, the python facility was completely toppled, releasing hundreds of young pythons into nearby swamps.
The problem wouldn’t rear its head until years later.
If you had told Floridian biologists 20 years ago that they’d be tracking giant snakes in the Everglades, they’d have said you were crazy. Today? Burmese pythons are their top…
