Since 2006, 69 Burmese Pythons have been captured in Palm Beach County, according to the early detection and distribution appeal system or eddmaps. Moreover, four deaths were found and 24 observations were reported. Countless lake of the invasive snakes have probably been unnoticed or not reported.
Just north of Palm Beach County, on the Treasure Coast, there have been at least 25 documented observations of Burmese Pythons since 2004.
Where did the Burmese Pythons come from? The conventional wisdom is that they were pets that escaped or were released. But there is increasing evidence that Pythons van Everglades have the opportunity to migrate from South Florida to the north and west, because they cross, evolve and adapt to other areas of Florida and the US
The question is: have they exceeded the boundaries of their established breeding range, which extends from Lake Okeechobee South to Key Largo and from Western Broward County West to Collier County?
The Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission and the US Geological Survey would not speculate, and several other biologists, scientists and snake wanglers told Tcpalm that they just don't know it.
However, a 2008 study published in the Peer-Reviewed Journal Biological Invasions says that Pythons “are now well established in South Florida and spread to the north.”
“They are good at finding ways of shelter,” said Ken Gioeli, natural resources and environmental agent at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences in Fort Pierce. “Unfortunately they adapt.”
Florida Burmese Python Habitat Range
This map shows the established breeding ground of the Burmese Python and how the invasive snake spread from 1979 to 2021, according to the American Department of the Interior's US Geological Survey Wetland and Aquatic Research Center.
Pythons have been located in the Everglades since the 1980s, but studies and observations show that the cold -blooded hoses are adapted to cooler temperatures and various habitats.
The USGS has confirmed their presence to the north of the Everglades by DNA identification of their saliva, droppings, scales of the skin and Sloughed, said research geneticist Margaret Hunter.
Those areas are located north of Lake Okeechobee in the Kissimmee -River area from Orlando to Okechobee and southwest of Lake Okechobee in the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge County, Hunter said.
One reason why they have adapted to a higher area is that they have been crossed with Indian rock pythons that prefer that habitat – probably before they were introduced in the Everglades, according to the USGS. Genetic evidence shows that at least 13 of the 400 pythons studied are crossed.
For proof of how they have adapted to the cold, look no further than an Arctic explosion of 2010 that blew unusually and extended cold weather in South Florida from January to March in South Florida. Scientists felt that the pythons who survived had a different gene than those who died, Hunter said.
“A significant part of the US mainland is potentially vulnerable to this apparently tropical intruder,” says the 2008 study in organic invasions.
Climate change could expand their range even more against 2100 with New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Colorado and parts of the state of Washington.
Coastal and southern states with Python-Conducive climates similar to the native series of the snakes in Asia-from India to China to Pakistan-Omsroden All Florida and most of California, as well as the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.
“They will continue to evolve and adjust themselves,” said Hunter.
For the time being, the FWC staff is evaluating reports from Pythons outside their established breeding range and “release -information about new locations of location and reach changes”.
Remove Burmese Pythons from Florida with: Python Challenge, Python Elimination Program, Python Action Team that removes invasive Constrictors (Patric)
The Python Elimination Program of the SFWMD and the Florida Python Challenge from the FWC and Python Action Team that remove invasive constrictors are among the entire state to remove pythons from the environment, which is essential because they change food webs.
Pythons have 85-100% of the foxes of the Everglades, Bobcats, rabbits, raccoons, opossums and white-tailed deer species that also live on the treasure coast.
The FWC and SFWMD contract with 100 hunters who follow and remove Pythons from the Everglades throughout the year, and the Python Challenge that FWC launched in 2013 became an annual 10-day hunting competition in 2020.
Due to all the efforts of the state, more than 23,000 pythons have been removed since 2000, including 917 alone from hunting, according to FWC. Yet Trappers caught less than 1% of the Python population of Florida, said Hunter, who is estimated in the tens of thousands and grows.
The Steenswet enables people to kill an unlimited number of pythons with the help of human and legal methods on 32 FWC managed countries throughout the year, and on private land with the permission of the owner.
“Every Python removed from the Florida landscape is a less invasive snake that influences our indigenous animals in the wild and ecosystems,” said FWC spokesperson Lisa Thompson. “FWC staff encourages residents to report observations.”
That doesn't happen enough, Gioeli said.
How to report Burmese Python observations in Florida
“Occasionally there will be a news item from a police officer or animal control officer who catches one, but those reports never make the reporting sites,” he said. “I tried to bridge that gap to bring them to report it. I will work to let people know that the reporting system is there. I don't think many people know that there is a reporting system.”
Call 911 or animal check in your city or province for an immediate threat and then report the exact location on the invasive species hotline of the FWC on 888-EIV-GOT1 (483-4681). Sending a photo is important because Burmese Pythons can easily be confused with ballpythons.
“There will always be a constant need for outreach and training” about reporting pythons, Gioeli said, “because so many new people are coming to the area.”
More about Burmese Pythons in Florida
Tim O'hara is the environmental reporter of TCPALM. Contact him at tim.ohara@tcpalm.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Map: Florida Burmese Pythons -Habitats grow beyond Everglades
