Pythons Invade Southern Florida

Burmese pythons are on a hatching spree across Florida’s Everglades, creeping into southern Florida's urban areas, according to numerous reports.

Young pythons are being sighted near the state’s east coast in Pembroke Pines and west coast in Collier County.

“They’re not here to harm us, they’re just sort of expanding their range,” Ian Bartoszek, of the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, told Fort Myers’ WINK News.

Although experts say the creatures aren’t harmful to humans, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says the invasive species is diminishing the populations of many native animals in the region’s subtropical ecosystem.

“Unfortunately, due to the invasion of pythons here in the Everglades, the small game population has dwindled by as much as 50 percent in the last decade,” Marshall Jones, of Mack’s Fish Camp, told CBS Miami.

Burmese pythons are an invasive species that were first reported found in the Everglades during the mid-1990s, according to a University of Florida report.

According to UF, the snakes are docile and typically bought at barely 2 feet in size, but can grow to up to 8 feet long in one year. At this point, many owners become unable to control the reptile.

FWC says adult Burmese pythons have few predators except for alligators and humans.