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10/08/2005: Not your same old ‘Dog eat Dog story’
I was reading an Op-Ed piece in the Boston Globe and couldn't help but notice the "20 most e-mailed articles" listed this one: "Python bursts after trying to eat gator", as it's top story.
So - here it is (Bleh!!) And the picture is below the fold, but don't say I didn't warn you about it being YUK: “A 13-foot Burmese python recently burst after it apparently tried to swallow a live, six-foot alligator whole, authorities said.
The incident has heightened biologists' fears that the nonnative snakes could threaten a host of other animal species in the Everglades.
"It means nothing in the Everglades is safe from pythons, a top-down predator," said Frank Mazzotti, a University of Florida wildlife professor.
Over the years, many pythons have been abandoned in the Everglades by pet owners.
The gory evidence of the latest gator-python encounter -- the fourth documented in the past three years -- was discovered and photographed last week by a helicopter pilot and wildlife researcher.
The snake was found with the gator's hindquarters protruding from its midsection. Mazzotti said the alligator may have clawed at the python's stomach as the snake tried to digest it.
…
It is unknown how many pythons are competing with the thousands of alligators in the Everglades, but at least 150 have been captured in the past two years, said Joe Wasilewski, a wildlife biologist and crocodile tracker…”
Courtesy of the Boston Globe.
Karen on 10.08.05 @ 07:09 AM CST
