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Bermese Python

 

Python bivittatus -- Reptilia:  Pythonidae

 

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       Adam Janos (2020) noted that starting in the 1980s, the South Florida Everglades have been overrun by the Burmese python. These massive snakes, 20 ft. long or more, have adversely affected small mammal populations.

 

       Because a female pythons can lay 50-100 eggs per year and few natural enemies are known, this species is an ever increasing threat.  It is native to Southeast Asia, and was initially brought to the United States as an exotic pet.  Because pythons can grow to huge sizes, the owners released them into the wild.  Also the pythons established a reproducing population in the Everglades sometime after a category 5 hurricane in August 1992, which destroyed a breeding facility that resulted in many snakes escaping into the environment.  Presently (2022) there are no accurate estimates of how many pythons exist in Florida as surveys are too difficult to make in the vast wilderness swamps.

 

Description & Biology

 

       The Burmese python is a non-venomous snake with dark brown blotches bordered by black down the back.  In the wild, Burmese pythons may grow to 5 or more meters.  This species is sexually dimorphic in size; females average a bit longer, but are much heavier than the males.

 

     Burmese pythons are mainly nocturnal rainforest dwellers.  When young, they occur on the ground and in trees, but as they gain girth, they prefer to remain on the ground.  They are also good swimmers, and can remain submerged for up to half an hour.  Most of the time they stay hidden in the underbrush.  The snakes will retreat for some months during the cold season in a hollow tree, a hole in the riverbank, or under rocks during which time they mature for reproduction.

 

     They tend to be solitary and are usually found in pairs only when mating.  Breeding is in the early spring, with females laying clutches of 12–36 eggs in March or April.  They remain with the eggs until they hatch, wrapping around them and twitching their muscles in such a way as to raise the ambient temperature around the eggs by several degrees.  Once the hatchlings cut their way out of their eggs, no further maternal care occurs.  The hatchlings often remain inside their eggs until they are ready to complete their first shedding of skin, after which they begin to seek food in the environment.

 

Control

 

       In Florida initial eradication efforts after the invasions have not contained the pythons.  Presently, the engagement of professional hunters and assistance of the general public in killing pythons are the only active controls being deployed.

 

 

REFERENCES:

 

Barker, D. G. & T. M. Barker.  2010.  The Distribution of the Burmese Python, Python bivittatus, in China. Bulletin of the Chicago Herpetological Society. 45 (5): 86–88.

 

Card D. C,  B. W. Perry, R. H. Adams, D. R. Schield, A. S. Young, A. L. Andrew AL, et al.  2018.  Novel ecological and climatic conditions drive rapid adaptation in invasive Florida Burmese pythons". Molecular Ecology. 27(23):  4744–4757. 

 

Chiszar D, H. M. Smith, A.  Petkus & J.  Doughery.  1993.  A Fatal Attack on a Teenage Boy by a Captive Burmese Python (Python molurus bivittatus) in Colorado.  The Bulletin of the Chicago Herpetological Society. Chicago Herpetological Society. 28(12):  261.

 

Dorcas, M. E.; J. D. Willson, R. N. Reed, R. W. Snow, M. R. Rochford, M. A. Miller, W. E. Meshaka, P. T. Andreadis,  F. J. Mazzotti, C. M. Romagosa & K. M. Hart.  2012.  Severe mammal declines coincide with proliferation of invasive Burmese pythons in Everglades National Park.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 109(7):  2418–2422. 

 

Groot, T. V.; E. Bruins & J. A. Breeuwer.  2003.  Molecular genetic evidence for parthenogenesis in the Burmese python, Python molurus bivittatus.  Heredity. 90(2):  130–135. 

 

Jacobson, E.R.; B. Homer & W. Adams.  1991.  Endocarditis and congestive heart failure in a Burmese python (Python molurus bivittatus).  Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 22: 245–248.

 

Orzechowski, Sophia C. M.; Christina M. Romagosa & Peter C. Frederick.  2019.  Invasive Burmese pythons (Python bivittatus) are novel nest predators in wading bird colonies of the Florida Everglades.  Biological Invasions. 21(7):  2333–2344.

 

Janos, Adam.  2020.  How Burmese pythons took over the Florida Everglades.  A&E Television Networks, LLC.

 

Mazzotti, F. J.,  M. Rochford,  J. Vinci,  B. M. Jeffery, J. K. Eckles,  C. Dove & K. P. Sommers.  2016.  Implications of the 2013 Python Challenges for Ecology and Management of Python molorus bivittatus (Burmese python) in Florida.  Southeastern Naturalist, 15(8):  63–74.

 

Secor S. M.  2003.  Gastric function and its contribution to the postprandial metabolic response of the Burmese python Python molurus.  The Journal of Experimental Biology. 206(10):  1621–30. 

 

Secor, Stephen M.  2008.  Digestive physiology of the Burmese python: broad regulation of integrated performance.  Journal of Experimental Biology 211(24):  3767–3774. 

 

Walters, T. M., F. J. Mazzotti & H. C. Fitz.  2016.  Habitat selection by the invasive species Burmese python in Southern Florida.  Journal of Herpetology, 50(1):  50–56.

 

Willson, J.  2017.  Indirect effects of invasive Burmese pythons on ecosystems in southern Florida.  Journal of Applied Ecology. 54(4): 1251–1258

 

 

 

 

 

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