October 6, 2005 Eyes bigger than your stomach? That was the case last week, when a 13-foot Burmese python and a six-foot American alligator both wound up dead after apparently becoming locked in a grisly struggle in the Florida Everglades. When the carcasses were found by wildlife researchers with the South Florida Natural Resources Center recently, the gator’s hindquarters were protruding from a hole in the giant snake.
“It means nothing in the Everglades is safe from pythons, a top-down predator,” Frank Mazzotti, a University of Florida wildlife professor, told the Associated Press. “Clearly, if pythons can kill an alligator, they can kill other species.”
According to the AP, pythons—native to Africa, Asia, and Australia—are on the rise in the Everglades, many having been released by pet owners. An individual Burmese can grow up to 20 feet and weigh up to 400 pounds.
Park biologist Skip Snow told The Boston Globe that he has documented 156 python captures in the last two years, leading biologists to believe that the snakes are multiplying rapidly in the wild. The growing population also raises questions about the competition with indigenous species like the alligator.
“It’s just off-the-charts absurd to think that this kind of animal, a significant top-of-the-pyramid kind of predator in its native land, is trying to make a living in South Florida,” Snow told the Globe.
Most snakes in the park have been found near roads and parking lots, he added. These particular carcasses were found in an isolated marsh in the park.
In previous run-ins, the alligator has typically won.
“There had been some hope that alligators can control Burmese pythons,” Mazzotti told the AP. “This indicates to me it’s going to be an even draw. Sometimes alligators are going to win and sometimes the python will win.”
It is believed that the largest snake ever kept in captivity is a 49-foot-long, 990-pound reticulated python, which was found in Java, Indonesia.
