Giant Snakes in Florida

Since the 1990s, Florida has been in the grip of a non-indigenous snake invasion caused by the release of unwanted pet snakes into the wild. Pythons, boa constrictors, even anacondas have turned up in the Everglades National Park and other areas, wreaking havoc on fragile ecosystems and worrying wildlife officials.

  1. Ecology

    • According to the Fort Collins Science Center (FORT) of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the huge predator snakes, which can reach 20 feet in length and weigh in excess of 200 pounds, pose a risk to native species, pets and people. The extremely adaptable constrictors number in the thousands and are able to adjust to many different habitats, including urban and suburban areas. Scientists from FORT have joined researchers from the University of Florida and the Nature Conservancy to study ways to control the snake invasion.

    Snake Dumping

    • To stem the tide of "snake dumping" in the park and elsewhere, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is sponsoring free "Amnesty Days" at Florida zoos for snake owners looking to get rid of their gigantic pets. According to FORT, many snake owners release the snakes into the wild when they get too large to house and feed. The problem of pet snake dumping is posing such a serious ecological risk that Florida Senator Ben Nelson introduced a bill in 2009 to ban the import and interstate trade of pythons.

    Key Largo

    • Sightings of Burmese pythons in Florida's Key Largo area have scientists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service worried. Key Largo is home to two federally endangered species -- the Key Largo wood rat and Key Largo cotton mouse -- that scientists believe could become extinct because of predation by the enormous snakes. In 2007, several of the protected wood rats were discovered in the stomach contents of pythons found in the area. In 2008, the USGS set 60 snake traps in the northern part of Key Largo to intercept the snakes and prevent further damage to the ecosystem of the island.

    Human Cost

    • A horrific example of the danger that giant predatory snakes pose to humans occurred in 2009 when a pet Burmese python strangled a two-year-old child in her Oxford, Florida, home. Charles Darnell, the boyfriend of the toddler's mother, told Sumter County authorities that the nearly nine-foot-long reptile had escaped from its glass enclosure during the night and had fatally attacked the child. Darnell also owned a 6-foot pet boa constrictor.