Invasive Species lab PDF

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Taylor Romer Burmese Python Invasive Species The species I decided to choose from the invasive species list was the Burmese python. The Burmese python is a reptile. It is one of the world’s largest snakes and can grow up to 26 feet long and weigh around 200+ lbs. They have a very unique spotted pattern with colors ranging anywhere from brown, tan, and black. Some are even albino, being all white with yellow or orange tinted spot patterns. The native habitat of the Burmese Python is in the tropics, jungles, and marshes. Their region of origin is areas of South and South East Asia. The Burmese python is not originally from the United States but was introduced to the united states in the 1980’s. They were brought over through the popular exotic pet trade so people could have them as pets through popular demand. The Burmese python has become a major problem in the U.S in Florida. More so in the Florida Everglades since it has started to take the ecosystem over completely. The Burmese python has no natural predators in Florida which means that there is no way to keep their population down. These snakes are eating other predators’ prey and also eating predators that are supposed to be on the top of the food chain in that area. This is a major problem because this means the native predator species will have less food to survive on and both the native prey and predator species population will decrease due to the pythons eating them and could cause native species to go extinct. These snakes are also causing an impact on the economy since these pythons cause such a large amount of harm to Florida’s ecosystem and are a major endangerment to already endangered species it has costed the United States millions of dollars in an effort to get rid of these snakes. Now we have to figure out what to do with these pythons and how to get them out.

In an attempt to control and get rid of the Burmese pythons, Florida’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife services department has hired Florida natives to hunt these snakes, they are given an hourly pay and on top of that they will give these citizens a cash prize for catching the pythons. The bigger the snake the more money they get. These snakes reproduce and their population grows rapidly so it is very hard to completely get rid of them and scientists say that the number of pythons will only continue to grow. Burmese pythons do not have any natural predators. The only time they are preyed upon is when they are eggs or newborns and get eaten by hyenas, birds, large spiders, frogs, and sometimes other snakes. These species eating the eggs or baby pythons can help decrease their population but most of the time these other species only eat the eggs/ baby pythons as a last resort. The predator is not specific to the Burmese python. If we brought hyenas to Florida to run loose in the wild that would be a major problem and hyenas cannot survive in the wild there. If we brought in other species of frogs and spiders to Florida that would also cause issues because one species of spider might try to take over the native species and could hunt prey that the native species leave alone. I do not think that a predator would be very effective at reducing the spread and limiting the population of the Burmese python because the adult pythons do not have any natural predators and there are only a couple species who will rarely eat the snake’s eggs and babies. A predator would not eliminate the Burmese python from an area and a predator would not reduce the population size to an extent either. This is because the adult Burmese python has no natural predators.

References: 

https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/nonnatives/python/fast-facts/

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https://ohiostate.pressbooks.pub/sciencebitesvolume2/chapter/1-4-invasive-speciesburmese-python-python-bivittatus-and-its-effect-in-florida/

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https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/how-have-invasive-pythons-impacted-florida-ecosystems?qtnews_science_products=0#qt-news_science_products...