Things that make you say EWWWW

Python Patrol' Hunts Snakes in Florida

By KIM SEGAL and JOHN ZARRELLA
CNN

MARATHON, Fla.
(March 30) -- Juan Lopez reads meters with one eye and looks for snakes
with the other. Lopez is a member of the "Python Patrol," a team of
utility workers, wildlife officials, park rangers and police trying to
keep Burmese pythons from gaining a foothold in the Florida Keys.

Officials say thepythons -- which can grow to 20 feet long and eat large animals whole
-- are being ditched by pet owners in the Florida Everglades,
threatening the region's endangered species and its ecosystem.

"Right now, we have our fingers crossed that they haven't come this far yet, but if they do, we are prepared," Lopez said.


Burmese Pythons are
rarely seen in the middle Florida Keys, where Lopez works. The Nature
Conservancy wants to keep it that way.


The Python Patrol
program was started by Alison Higgins, the Nature Conservancy's Florida
Keys conservation manager. She describes it as an "early detection,
rapid response" program made up of professionals who work outside.


Eight Burmese pythons have been found in the Keys.


"If we can keep them from spreading and breeding, then we're that much more ahead of the problem," Higgins said.


Utility workers,
wildlife officials and police officers recently attended a three-hour
class about capturing the enormously large snakes. Lt. Jeffrey L. Fobb
of the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Venom Response Unit taught the
participants how to capture pythons.

There's no immutable
laws of snake catching. It's what works," Fobb said as he demonstrated
catching a snake with hooks, bags, blankets and his hands.

"We're doing it in
the Florida Keys because we have a lot to protect," Higgins said. "The
Burmese pythons that are coming out of the Everglades are eating a lot
of our endangered species and other creatures, and we want to make sure
they don't breed here."


Where the snakes
are breeding is just north of the Keys in Everglades National Park. An
estimated 30,000 Burmese pythons live in the park.


The Everglades,
known as the "River of Grass," is a vast area with a climate perfect
for these pythons to hide and breed. And breed they do: The largest
clutches of eggs found in the Everglades have numbered up to 83.


The snakes grow
like they're on steroids. With a life span of 30 years, these pythons
can weigh as much as 200 pounds. And the larger the snake, the bigger
the prey. Biologists have found endangered wood rats, birds, bobcats
and other animals in their stomachs.
Two 5-foot-long alligators were found in the stomachs of Burmese pythons that were caught and necropsied, officials say.


Officials also say Burmese pythons can travel 1.6 miles a day by land, and they can swim to reach areas outside the Everglades.


This nonvenomous species was brought into the United States from Southeast Asia.
Everglades National Park spokeswoman Linda Friar says biologists believe that well-intended pet owners are to blame for their introduction into the Everglades.
"These pets were released by owners that do not understand the threat to the ecosystem," she said.

Higgins says 99,000 of the popular pets were brought into the United
States from 1996 to 2006, the most recent data available. She says they
are an easy species to breed, and you can buy a hatchling for as little
as $20.

The problem with these pets, Friar says, is that they get too big for their owners to
handle. Making the owner aware of what to expect when the animal
becomes full-grown is a priority.


"The pet trade is pretty supportive in educating people," Friar said. She hopes a "Don't
let it loose" message campaign makes an impact on pet owners.

Florida Sen. Bill Nelson, a supporter of restoring the Everglades, has introduced a bill
that would ban importing the python species into the United States. The
senator saw the need after learning about the effect these snakes were
having on the park.

"Finding out many endangered species are being found in the stomach of the python,"
Nelson spokeswoman Susie Quinn said, "we need to do a better job at
protecting the resources."

In the meantime,Lopez and the Python Patrol will continue to protect the Florida Keys
by capturing the snakes and turning them over to biologists to perform
necropsies. The Nature Conservancy plans to expand the program to all
the areas that surround the Everglades, making these predators their
prey.

"I would like to find them and get rid of them," Lopez said.

#1 of Natures list of ugliest creatures.....The Blob Fish

#2 The Aye-Aye native to madagascar

#3 The Hagfish...

#4 The Tarsier (they prey on snakes) maybe they should put a few in the everglades......

#5 The Axolotl of Mexico...

#6 The naked mole rat....

#7 The Sloth..

#8 The Star-Nosed Mole, found in Canada, and The North Eastern United States..

If I saw this outside I would scream!!!!

#9 The Horseshoe Bat...

#10 Mata Mata....



There you have it. I used the topic of things that make you go Ewwww for the kids I babysit. We had fun and learned a few things. Hope you enjoyed todays Zoo Crew Lesson ....