home go links go books go opinion go gallery go projects go resumé go
about this site
archives
book reviews
"to read" list
tech books
search books
books archive
last 10 posts
quotes
cluetrain
cluetrain (mirrored)
randobracket
image auth
search engine hits
  hit history
indexer stats
user agent list
HTML (view)
  (most up-to-date)
MS Word (dl)
code examples
doesntsuck.com
doesntsuck.com

October 17, 2005

python vs alligator   (link)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051005/ap_on_fe_st/gator_python
MIAMI - The alligator has some foreign competition at the top of the Everglades food chain, and the results of the struggle are horror-movie messy.
ADVERTISEMENT

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.

In previous incidents, the alligator won or the battle was an apparent draw.

"There had been some hope that alligators can control Burmese pythons," Mazzotti said. "This indicates to me it's going to be an even draw. Sometimes alligators are going to win and sometimes the python will win."

Posted by yargevad at October 17, 2005 12:41 PM


This weblog is licensed under a Creative Commons License.