Burmese pythons do get large enough to be a threat to humans, especially
small children. According to Wiki, they average 3.7 meters (12 ft)
long, but may get as large as 5.8 meters (19 ft) and 200 pounds.
Unfortunately, they have a habit of leaving the Everglades and showing
up in suburban yards. They're more likely to grab some tasty dog or cat
but that does not endear them to the animal's owners. The largest
problem though is that they out-compete many of the native Everglades
residents and tend to eat the native's food sources as well as some of
the native competitors. It has taken quite a while but there are now
limited hunts allowed which seem primarily designed to determine the
extent of the problem. If you are a biologist or herpetologist you'll
likely be issued a limited license. Ordinary Florida Crackers will have
a tougher time getting a hunting license... for now anyhow. I think the
rules are likely to be considerably loosened in the future.
Chuck Norcutt
On 1/19/2011 4:22 PM, Andrew Fildes wrote:
> Why? They aren't poisonous and I'm sure that they don't eat too many
> humans. :-) On the other hand, they do keep down rats and other pests
> and if they become a pest themselves, they are quite good eating (I'm
> lead to believe). I rather like snakes. Especially non-venomous
> ones. Andrew Fildes afildes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>
>
> On 20/01/2011, at 1:40 AM, Bill Pearce wrote:
>
>> Perhaps they can, but so can I- away from pythons! There is some
>> thought among biologists that the wild pythons now rampant in
>> Florida could move throughout parts of the US formerly thot as too
>> cold for pythons. I can assure you when I'm outdoors, I'm alert!
>
--
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