Thread: Florida - Pet python strangles US toddler

I dont mind having them around as they keep the rats down.
But once they finish off the rats, the bigger ones start on the chooks and ducks. So thats when they get relocated to snake heaven.

Had a big one living in the roof who used to come out at night. Once he started strangling the ducks and just leaving them there dead on the ground with their guts coming out their arse, it was on. I set up a snare at his exit hole in the fascia board. He broke a 50lb fishing line snare first time. So upped the strength to 100lb line. He wouldn't come out for a week after the first attempt, but eventually got him again with the stronger line which he broke again.

So set up another snare with 200lb stainless trace wire. The bugger knew it was a trap by now and would only stick his head out as far as the noose for weeks.
I could see him sticking his nose out from my lounge room window each evening, but he couldn't see me because I was underneath him.

Eventually he did a runner and bailed out one night while I was asleep, never to return. I am counting that as a victory. Found a skin he had shed in the garden that measured 3.2 meters. Almost wish we had him back now because we have got a lot of rats again. Another one will move in soon though.

There could be an export market in Asia there.
Hunters armed with CO2 fire extinguishers could freeze the suckers on site for export to Thailand.

I do have to wonder how well thermal imaging from drone aircraft would show up on a cold blooded creature?

Sniffer dogs could be a useful way of tracking down the pythons. Pythons in particular stink. They usually have a lair where they lay up during the day or for longer periods after they have had a good feed. Sniffer dogs trained to find python scat would certainly lead them to the pythons lair.

When I was a kid I used to take our cattle dog snake hunting. The dog would sniff them out and I would dispose of them. On a good morning I could account for up to a dozen snakes. Hunting alone I would be lucky to find one. So I know for sure that dogs do work. Wouldn't be too hard to grid map an area and work through it. Perhaps someone should email the Florida wildlife folks and suggest dogs?

Charles Darnell, the snake's owner and boyfriend of Shaiunna's mother, stabbed the python and prised the child away, but she died before paramedics arrived.

RIP - The python that is, it was just doing what came naturally in an environment that was against its will. The father on the other hand was doing what comes naturally in a situation that he created.

One less human in the world anyway, good.

Yes Snakehead is a delicious eating fish.

Re the Everglades being a a difficult region to use dogs during the seasonal floods, I do acknowledge that. But the thing is that while the Burmese python is semi aquatic, it does like to rest up on higher ground where it could be vulnerable to discovery by sniffer dogs. Not saying dogs are the only answer, but I do think they could be a very valuable part of the solution.

The Burmese python population has grown a lot in Florida. Big snakes. Can be aggressive. It's an issue to deal with.

As a pet with a kid. Quite stupid.

Originally Posted by Panda

Yes Snakehead is a delicious eating fish.

Re the Everglades being a a difficult region to use dogs during the seasonal floods, I do acknowledge that. But the thing is that while the Burmese python is semi aquatic, it does like to rest up on higher ground where it could be vulnerable to discovery by sniffer dogs. Not saying dogs are the only answer, but I do think they could be a very valuable part of the solution.

I agree. I find it kind of odd that the Burmese pythons are doing so well in SoFla, because in Thailand they do like to climb (until they get really big) and there aren't very many trees in which they can do so in the Glades (outside the cypress swamps). Searches of the big "hammocks" during the wet season might be the ticket (I expect the rangers have thought of that, they are pretty well-informed). I think it (fortunately) just gets too cold for the other giant snakes to thrive in Florida, and the Burmese also appear to be very adaptable. South Florida gets a major cold spell about every 5 years or so, which helps keep the exotics down, plus the Glades being an extremely predator-rich environment (almost all predators of one kind or another, in which things eaten as young grow up to eat their species' predators) probably helps. I think manpower and money are the big obstacles, plus the fact that so much of the land is federally managed.

The constrictor stretched 17 feet, 2 inches and measured 26 inches around at its thickest point. It weighed in at a staggering 207 pounds

snip

Florida wildlife managers pointed to the find as the latest, and largest, evidence that the exotic snake, which has settled into the Everglades, is spreading across the state.

"The capture of this large python shows us how well these snakes can thrive in the wild and create a dangerous situation after illegal release or escape,'' said Rodney Barreto, chairman of the of Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "It also illustrates why the FWC is partnering with other agencies to implement python control measures in South Florida.''

Link: Biggest python yet is bagged -- a 17-footer - Breaking News - MiamiHerald.com

Originally Posted by mordred

It isn't the burmese pythons we have to worry about populating the everglades. We do need to be concerned about reticulated pythons as they get much larger and are more prone to bite. Retics aren't sold as much here in the states due to their large size and behavior. For that reason burmese are sold more often in the pet trade as are red tail boas which are found in Mexico and central and south america. I believe both retics and burmese can be found in Thailand, but I've only seen one burmese in a tree. Anyone come into contact with reticulated pythons in Thailand?

They are all beautiful animals and their power should be respected.

I've bumped into retics in Khao Yai (where I helped a 3-meter snake get across the road) and Koh Phangan (was in a coffee shop when they pulled one out of a cabinet in the kitchen), and recall when a big one caused a stir crossing road near the Dusit Thani a few years back BKK. I don't think they are hardy enough to survive the cold spells that hit South Florida nearly every year- Burmese pythons can brumate, which is close to hibernation, for a couple of months, but I don't think retics can do so. Maybe they could manage in the southernmost part of the Glades along the coast or in the Keys, which are more or less frost-proof, but there would have to be enough released animals to meet and breed. Anecdotally, I noticed last spring that the population of iguanas was down in my neighborhood in Palm Beach County (their numbers were getting ridiculously high) and the papaya trees that grow near the beach (the only place they will grow successfully) were badly damaged, in both cases probably due to an especially harsh winter.

WEC242/UW286: Burmese Pythons in South Florida: Scientific Support for Invasive Species Management
"Other large nonnative snakes—such as the common boa (Boa constrictor), green anaconda (Eunectes murinus), yellow anaconda (Eunectes notaeus), and reticulated python (Python reticulatus)—have been observed in the wild in South Florida, but only Burmese pythons and common boas are known to be breeding. Boas have been breeding since approximately 1970 in the Charles Deering Estate at Cutler, southern Miami-Dade County. Boas have also been reported elsewhere in South Florida, but without evidence of breeding."

There probably aren't more boas or ball pythons because people don't as often cut them loose when they become adults. Even Burmese can be kept after adulthood because they become used to people- I once "handled" an 18-footer that a guy had overfed trying to break the weight record; he had brought to the Miami Serpentarium to try to sell it to Bill Haas. And you are right, that is definitely not the case with retics or anacondas (especially the latter) which are much less even-tempered than Burmese pythons- the bite of a large constrictor can leave a very nasty wound that easily goes septic.

There are experts who are afraid that we will soon face breeding populations of retics, so I guess we'll have to wait and see. I don't think that poses any more immediate danger to humans than does a population of Burmese, but it could be a threat to native species like Key Deer or panthers. Of course, it could also provide some needed predation for the droves of non-native wild pig hybrids that cause a lot more damage to state game lands than do exotic snakes.

While watching the news on CNN last Friday they announced they would be doing a special on the python problem in Florida, next week (week of August 17th) if anyone is interested.

http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2009/08/03/zarrella.python.hunters.cnn?iref=videosearch

Couple charged with third-degree murder, manslaughter in python-related child death


OXFORD - The mother of a 2-year-old Sumter County girl asphyxiated by a Burmese python and the woman's live-in boyfriend were charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter in connection with the death, officials said Monday.

Jaren Ashley Hare, 19, and Charles Jason Darnell, 32, also face child-abuse counts, according to the Sumter County Sheriff's Office. The charges come nearly two months after the July 1 the death of little Shaiunna Hare, who was killed by the snake in her crib.

The mother turned herself into the Wildwood Police Department Monday after a warrant was issued by the 5th Judicial Circuit State Attorney's Office. Darnell, who was already incarcerated at the Sumter County Jail on unrelated narcotics charges, was notified of the three new charges late Monday.

Link: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/orl-bk-python-death-charges-082409,0,7833384.story

I don't know the details, but on the face of it I can't see the point in prosecuting these people, unless it is to discourage the keeping of large snakes. That's not a bad idea, although it seems a bass ackwards way of going about it. Maybe there is more than meets the eye if the mother is anywhere near normal I expect she's suffered enough already and will continue to.

^Could be a bit of an outrage in the community (it did make national news) and the sheriff feels they have to do something?????? Maybe heat is coming from Child Welfare Services for someone to do something (to protect the next child maybe????).

Originally Posted by S Landreth

^Could be a bit of an outrage in the community (it did make national news) and the sheriff feels they have to do something?????? Maybe heat is coming from Child Welfare Services for someone to do something (to protect the next child maybe????).

Probably more than meets the eye. Are there siblings of the victim? Who is going to look after them if mom is in jail? It is really hard to know what is going on. It is Flawda, after all, tough to beat us for lowlife.