"PYTHONS ON THE LOOSE: Largest of Florida's Pet Pests Invade Everglades"

Right now just southeast of Lee County - in and on the edges of the 1.5 million acre Everglades National Park - Burmese pythons [which can reach 300 lb. & 20+ ft.] are breeding like rabbits.

Some wildlife biologists estimate their numbers in the park now at about 5,000, most of them wild-born offspring of animals from the pet trade either purposely released or escaped from owners after major storms, such as hurricane Andrew at the beginning of the 1990s.

[The solution seems to be putting a bounty on them and hiring some "educated hunters." Git, are you interested?]

[The most practical idea of all: Use them as a food source to feed the homeless.

"Given what they eat, and the fact that snakes are a delicacy in so many places, they'd probably be very good, and it would be shame to waste all that meat," he says. The idea is not so far-fetched; a 200-pound snake could provide a great deal of protein to hungry people, and similar programs in such states as Colorado offer fresh, road-killed deer and elk to homeless centers.]

Pythons as Pets

And while you're raising your young python [which can live to about 25 years], plan on accommodating its living needs, which make a teenager's look mild. At first, you can put it in a cage. Then you can put it in a very big cage. And finally, you'd just better give it an entire room, or the guest wing of your home. And if you get tired of feeding it four or five big rabbits at a time [Burmese pythons eat anything that breathes], go ahead and provide a small pig (or maybe an unruly child or, well, you get the picture). [Their defacatory production is renowned.]

"How much of a threat is it?" asks Piper rhetorically. "That depends on how hungry it is, and how many you have in a feeding situation. If a snake finishes a rabbit or a chicken first and it smells chicken on another snake - and part of that chicken is sticking out - it's going to eat that, too. I saw a 16-foot python eat a rabbit and then consume an entire 10-foot python."

Wildlife expert James Peacock described the reptiles as extremely dangerous. "Some of these snakes are very aggressive, they can be considered life-threatening, and they're now being found in residential areas where small children or domesticated animals can easily be taken. The snakes do very well here in our climate, and there is no predator to keep them in check."

”Python Tries to Eat Alligator, Explodes”

See picture of a 13-foot python that tried to eat a 6-foot gator.

”Huge, Freed Pet Pythons Invade Florida Everglades” (National Geographic News)

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"14-Foot Python Bites Fla. Snake Handler"

A 14-foot Burmese python bit its handler and tried to drag her into its cage during a show at an aquarium, and wouldn't release the woman until a police officer zapped the reptile with a stun gun.

"She was my favorite animal that we had," Cobianchi [18] said of Chloe. "Not anymore."

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Big Cat Rescue answers the call of a snake rescue VIDEO (03:47)

“A massive 25 ft Reticulated Python attacks a young tiger, the tiger escapes and then returns to lay down the smack...quite intense!” OLD VIDEO (04:33)

“Python Vs. Crocodile” VIDEO (02:08)

Reticulated Python/Anaconda Comparison VIDEO (02:04)

Python Swallows Deer Discovery Channel VIDEO (05:14)

This is "the rest of the story."

WARNING: Graphic Pictures

Crocodile bites off lower left arm of Taiwanese veterinarian, but doctors reattached it - AMAZING!

I guess this guy was a fan of the Crocodile Hunter.

Git, is your story this exciting? (Hope not!)

CLICK HERE FOR JANE'S VIDEO

No....that wasn't me. I'm not that short and my gator wasn't a croc.

Good news though. I did come across this video of our beloved Dollar.

CLICK HERE TO SEE DOLLAR IN A SKIRT

**** GIT REAL TOUGH ON CRIME ****

"That man was Griffin Judicial Circuit District Attorney Scott Ballard".

CLICK HERE FOR THE REST OF THE STORY