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Like many animals previously unknown north of the Equator, the Burmese python arrived through the pet trade. ...but Burma is north of the Equator...

• deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
• 67726e 12y ago
  One could be generous to the author and say that he just spotted Java on the Wikipedia map[0] of the Burmese python's range. Being the smartass I am, I tried finding if the first discovery of the Burmese python was south of the equator to give the author more credit. Nothing but invasive species reports for Florida as far as the eye can see, at least on Google. Nonetheless, poor fact checking. [0] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burmese_python#/media/File:Python_bivittatus_Area.svg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burmese_python#/media/File:Pyth...
  • hbharadwaj 12y ago
    I understand the comment on poor fact checking but don't get why it is voted all the way to the top since it takes away the focus on the message to some extent. This is a serious problem with no apparent solutions. Even Everglades apex predators, the alligators are unable to deal with the issue. A fight between a python and an alligator is fatal to both. http://science.time.com/2012/01/31/invaders-how-burmese-pythons-are-devouring-the-everglades/ http://science.time.com/2012/01/31/invaders-how-burmese-pyth... TLDR quote from the article: As per study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the increase of the python population from just a few to perhaps a few thousand has been connected to declines of several native mammals. According to the study, observations of raccoons have declined 93 percent, bobcats by 87 percent, and possums by 98.9 percent.
• hockeybias 12y ago
  Decades ago they were also referred to as the 'dark phase' of the Indian Python... I am not sure if that name is used any more. We had a 12 footer in the 'Herpetology Club' at my prep school in Minneapolis area named Julie. She was gentle - and would not survive our winter (or fall or spring for that matter) had she gotten loose...