15 -foot invasive pythons move north of Florida and cannot be arrested
Scientists say that this snake species will propagate in more parts of the United States
Even smaller and harmless snakes, such as garter snakes and corn snakes, are sufficient to send chills to some of our thorns. But in the past year, poisonous species Like bell snakes and copper have also been reported in houses in the United States, with numerous reports of observations and bites. And now, a larger type of snake is in motion. Scientists have been monitoring invasive Burmese pythons in southern Florida for years, and they say that the species is now moving north in new parts of the country. Read the rest to find out why this 15 -foot species cannot be stopped.
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Invasive pythons have lived in Florida since 2000.
In February, US Geological Survey (USGS) scientists published a report detailing the development of an invasive species Burmese pythons who make their house in the lower half of Florida. According to scientists, it was confirmed that these snakes had established a reproductive population in the State National Everglades in 2000.
"The population has since developed and now occupies a large part of southern Florida. They consume a wide range of animals and have changed the food canvas and ecosystems through the largest Everglades," noted the USGS , describing the invasive python as "one of the most challenges the management problems of invasive species in the world."
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Many snakes in this species are massive.
USGS researchers said many invasive Burmese pythons found in Florida have recently weighed more than 200 pounds and measured more than 15 feet. A 19 -foot record python was caught By local hunters in the great national reserve of the Cypress in the south of Florida in July of this year, reported NPR.
"Burmese pythons are large snakes, even as a newborn baby," warned USGS scientists in their report, adding that some of these snakes can hatch more than two feet long. "A large size of New News can lead to competitive and survival advantages compared to native snake species."
Ian Bartoszek , Biologist at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, recently said to the initiate That this size is what allows them to stay easier to stay alive and to reproduce.
"It is their evolutionary secret weapon, they can become very large very quickly," said Bartoszek.
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Now they move north.
These snakes may not be content to stay in Florida. Bartoszek said he insider that scientists "see them appearing in the counties increasingly north" each year.
According to the media, we do not know how much the pythons now live in the north in Florida. Current research indicates that they have spread at least with regard to Lake Okeechobee, which is near West Palm Beach.
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Some factors can easier facilitate invasive pythons to spread.
But the models predict that Burmese pythons could potentially move to the northwest of the Pacific, in states like Oregon, Washington and Idaho - then in Canada, according to Insider. And although they would need decades to spread so far, certain factors can make them more easily. AE0FCC31AE342FD3A1346EBB1F342FCB
On the one hand, the canals and deep water can help these snakes Melissa Miller , PHD, a scientist who specializes in Search for invasive species .
"There is potential to help pythons disperse," said Miller to Insider. "It could act as a little a Python motorway, but we don't know it for the moment."
Temperatures in the United States also continue to warm up climate change, which could help pythons continue their migration. And they can also be able to survive more cold temperatures in the North: the Pythons population of Florida finally rebounded after a cold spell in 2010, and the snakes who experienced it could be better suited to lower temperatures , according to Miller.
"These individuals, when they reproduce with other individuals who have survived potentially, could propagate a more tolerant gene for cold," she said to inside.
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Scientists warn people not to "underestimate the Burmese Python".
This species was introduced for the first time in the United States "by pet trade", with more than 300,000 snakes imported from Thailand, Myanmar and Vietnam, Miller told Insider. The Burmese pythons then ended up making their way in nature by escaping or detaching themselves by their owners when they have become too big to manage.
But it was not until the early 2000s that scientists realized that these snakes reproduced in nature in the south of Florida, and at that time it was too late, Insider. Their ability to adapt, survive and reproduce them made essentially impossible to eradicate at this stage, according to scientists from the USGS.
"It really looks like an extraterrestrial invasion," said Bartoszek to Insider, adding that only 10 years ago, he would have said that Burmese pythons were just a problem with Florida. "Then I just developed this mantra over the years not to underestimate the Burmese Python."
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