GIANT PYTHONS INVADE FLORIDA! Wrath of God or the “BEST” of Intelligent Design?

Pythons Wreaking Havoc in the Everglades? Send in the UAVs

http://www.popsci.com/environment/article/2009-07/uavs-search-everglades-pythons?page=

USGS, University of Florida want to enlist unmanned drones in the search for invasive Burmese pythons in the Everglades

By Stuart Fox Posted 07.21.2009 at 12:55 pm

Snakes on the Table: Researchers attach a radio tracker to a Burmese python. courtesy of the University of Florida

For years, Burmese pythons have invaded Florida’s Everglades National Park, preying on indigenous species. Tracking them down has proven time consuming and difficult, so Park wardens have begun testing a new hunting method imported straight from the front lines of the War on Terror: unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and thermal imaging technology.

David Hallac of The National Park Service already uses manned, fixed-wing aircraft to search the Everglades for birds, and he said moving to UAVs to cut down on costs is the natural next step.

Additionally, recent tests by the scientists at the University of Florida have shown that thermal imaging can detect the snakes, even though their cold-blooded bodies reflect the heat of their environment.

According to Frank Mazzotti, an Associate Professor of Wildlife Ecology at the University of Florida and one of the scientists who hunts for the pythons, the snakes regulate the temperature of their nests in a way that makes them easily visible through thermal imaging.

Despite being cold blooded, the pythons keep their nests cool in the heat, and shiver to warm up the nests when it gets too cold, providing a heat contrast to the surrounding environment.

“Whether its really hot or really cold, the nest stands out on the thermal imager,” said Mazzotti. “Someone using that to find python nests might be the best move, because by going for the nests, you target the population.”

Interestingly, while both the UAV and the thermal imaging search programs are moving a head at a rapid pace, there are currently no plans to combine the two technologies and put thermal imaging cameras on the UAVs. However, that doesn’t mean the natural pairing of heat sensors and UAVs won’t occur sooner rather than later.

“We haven’t tested either, and I’m not wise enough to have a clever phrase about trying out two untested technologies together,” said Mazzotti, “but I think down the road they’re gonna get coupled.”

AND THEN THERE IS THIS SAD STORY FROM THE JACKSONVILLE OBSERVER.

Florida Child Killed by Python

Gannett News Service – Jul 2nd, 2009

 

Oxford, Florida – Authorities said they found a 2-year-old girl dead in her bed Wednesday after receiving a call that a python was strangling the child.

Gary Morse, spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said that when the sheriff and the medical examiner arrived on the scene, they confirmed that 2-year-old Shaiunna Hare had died.

The snake’s owner, Charles Jason Darnell, 32, lives at the Oxford home with the child and her mother, Jaden Ashley Hare, 23. Darnell found the snake on top of the child when he got out of bed Wednesday morning, and stabbed it.

Lt. Bobby Caruthers of the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office said that the “snake was found on top of the child, and the child had a bite mark on her head.”

The family has been interviewed by sheriff’s deputies and officials from the FWC.

Morse said Burmese pythons are “reptiles of concern that require a permit, and training in animal husbandry and proper caging.” Morse said Darnell did not have a permit.

The medical examiner has not confirmed the cause of death, and the investigation is ongoing.

Darnell told officers he placed his 8-foot, 5-inch albino Burmese python in a bag and put it in an aquarium Tuesday night, according to an FWC statement. When Darnell woke in the morning, he said he discovered the snake had escaped from both the bag and the aquarium.

He told investigators that he discovered the python on top of Shaiunna and then he stabbed the snake before calling 911, according Lt. Bobby Caruthers of the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office.

Two older children were also in the residence at the time, but they were not harmed.

The Sumter County Sheriff’s Office is leading the investigation with help from the FWC.

“This is a very sad situation,” said Sumter County Sheriff Bill Farmer. “We’ve never had anything like this in Sumter County or even Florida. To keep a large, unsecured snake in the house is just asking for trouble.”

Another snake – a boa constrictor between six and eight feet long – was also found in the house, but no permit is needed for constrictors.

According to the Florida Wildlife Commission, pythons are a non-native species to Florida, although some Burmese pythons have been found in parts of the state.

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, has long urged Congress to ban the import and trade of the Burmese python. Under a bill he has introduced repeatedly in the Senate, pythons would immediately be added to a list of wildlife deemed invasive by federal biologists.

Currently, such animals are placed on a federal “injurious list” only after they have caused widespread damage to the environment, human health or the economy. The process, however, often takes several years or longer.

http://www.jaxobserver.com/2009/07/02/florida-child-killed-by-python/