An astonishing milestone reached the Florida war against the Pisons of Burma, which eats across the Everglades.
The Southwest Florida conservancy reports that it has captured and humanely killed 20 tons of snakes since 2013, including a record 6,300-pound python that recorded this past breeding season, according to a June 9 news release.
Looking at it, it’s a 20 tonne (40,000 pounds) fire truck-sized snake mound, or a fully loaded city bus.
What’s surprising is that those 1,400 snakes don’t come from culs throughout the state. They came from a 200-square-mile area in southwest Florida, the Conservancy reports.
According to Ian Bartoszek, Conservancy Science Project Manager, who oversees the Python program, the Everglades ecosystem, where snakes are thriving, covers more than 7,800 square miles.
According to a US Geological Survey, tens of thousands of pythons are estimated to roam the area.
“Do you think the real question is what native animals needed to make a 20 tonne python? … I’m amazed at how big these animals have become and how many people are there,” Bartseck told McClatchy’s news in a phone interview.
“There is an uncertain growth in Pythons, and the more they eat, the bigger they get. In this project, we got the biggest women at 18 feet (feet), but we got the biggest men at 16 feet (feet) and 140 pounds. Eastern Everglades, that’s probably the opposite.”
Researchers at the University of Florida have identified 85 species of birds and mammals (including reptiles) eaten by Pisons in the Everglades, fearing it is destroying several natural mammal populations.
The wetlands in southwestern Florida are like a Pison buffet, with areas and reserves at the forefront.
Since launching the Python program in 2013, the conservancy has only achieved its status with the help of technology, says Bartoszek. This includes a scout snake program that fits 40 male Python radio telemetry trackers, so you can track it to reproductive women during mating season (November to April). Those women are humanely euthanized, and tagged men are released to track more women.
The program prevented more than 20,000 Python eggs from hatching, says the Conservancy.
“As Scout snakes are increasingly struggling to find their mates, signs of the positive effectiveness of these efforts have been shown in the long term.
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The Bartoszek team, including biologist Ian Easterling, made the headline in 2024 when they walked over 115 pounds of Python, swallowing 77 pounds of deer. It reached 66.9% of the snake’s weight, proving that it is eating bigger prey in Florida.
Among other confusion discoveries, the snake is expanding its scope. They are well-established in the county along the southeastern and southwest coasts of Florida, and sightings have now been reported near Lake Okeechobee, Bartozek says. This is a drive about 110 miles northwest of Miami.
“The Burmese pythons have always kept me surprised, and I have an internal memory reel for all the first ones I’ve seen in the project. The most visceral thing is to see firsthand what they’re consuming,” Bartoszek said.
“But they are offset by seeing native wildlife fighting back, like when they discovered a bobcat that preceded one of the scout snakes. Or they tracked down the pythons that hatched over many summers, eventually following predators who consumed them, including indigo snakes, which are in danger of extinction.
Pison, Burma, is native to South Asia, but it began to appear in Florida in the 1970s, according to South Florida’s Water Management District. The snakes are suspected of being pets, and they were released by their owners or escaped in captivity, the district says.
“Burmese pythons are destroying wild wildlife across the entire invaded area. … The Python team’s work to reduce local invasive snakes allows us to restore safe conditions for our wild wildlife.”
The Southwest Florida Conservancy is a Naples-based environmental organization that works to protect the natural resources and wildlife of Collier, Lee, Charlotte, Hendry and Glaze counties.
We collaborate with the University of Florida Fish and Wildlife, South Florida Water Management District, Rookery Bay Research Reserve, the Naples Zoo and the University of Florida National Park Service, and the United States Geological Survey.
