Python Bursts After Eating Alligator

[mcs328]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051005/...t/gator_python

Python Bursts After Trying to Eat Gator

By DENISE KALETTE, Associated Press Writer 26 minutes ago

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.
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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."

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.

Pythons could threaten many smaller species that conservationists are trying to protect, including other reptiles, otters, squirrels, woodstorks and sparrows, Mazzotti said.

Wasilewski said a 10- or 20-foot python also could pose a risk to an unwary human, especially a child. He added, however, "I don't think this is an imminent threat. This is not a `Be afraid, be very afraid' situation.'"
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Nice

[nickel]

now that is some kind of indigestion right there.

[DarkFury]

Whooo hoo! Gatorsnake!!!!

[InfiniteNothing]

So for the pythons out there: strangle first.... THEN eat.

[cadetevon]

Cripes that was nahssty.

[WhiskeyPapa]

I usually feed my python dead mice (they come frozen and I thaw them first.) Well a few weeks ago we found a nest of baby moles under the doghouse, so I fed a couple to my python. He squeezed them a total of about 20 seconds, so I'm sure those things were alive when they went down.

[Grimm]

The pythons are gonna have a problem with alligators. The gators can hold their breath for a very long time. Also I don't think that gators have diaphrams, they breathe by using muscles to expand their rib cage. The design is probably more resistant to constriction. And finaly, the short legs are probably perfect for clawing their way out of a python.

The invasion of foreign species is a problem in our wild habitats. Perhaps we should adopt a policy of sterilizing pets brought from other habitats. Pet owners are just to careless or just to stupid. Deliberately releasing an animal from another habitat has destroyed the ecology of entire habitats. Lakes, forests, swamps and even entire regions have been devistated.

[Sir_Froggy]

so to clarify the picture for myself, the tail of the snake is pointing the same direction as the head right?

[brainsmile]

Looks like the snake is at a 90 degree angle with the alligator coming out the side

[welfareloser]

I usually feed my python dead mice (they come frozen and I thaw them first.) Well a few weeks ago we found a nest of baby moles under the doghouse, so I fed a couple to my python. He squeezed them a total of about 20 seconds, so I'm sure those things were alive when they went down.

didn't have you pegged for a python owner. do you ahve a tattoo i don't know about, too?


so, that picture looks to me like the evolution of turducken. all we need is something tasty in the alligator's belly... salamanders! pygander, anyone?

[Apex]

In related news:

Python eats 15-lb cat. All of the swallowing, none of the bursting.

[Grimm]

It's all fun and games until one of these monster snakes eats a four year old playing in the back yard.

These people who are releasing non-native species into the wild should be held accountable for their actions. It should be a felony, like deliberately starting a forest fire. It probably does as much damage to the ecosystem as a fire, more even in the long term.

[esme]

It's all fun and games until one of these monster snakes eats a four year old playing in the back yard.

These people who are releasing non-native species into the wild should be held accountable for their actions. It should be a felony, like deliberately starting a forest fire. It probably does as much damage to the ecosystem as a fire, more even in the long term.

......scary to think what they can do ......

[jstreet]

Update:

Pythons learn from their errors, are more successful after going after kitties.

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. - Maybe this Burmese python learned a lesson from the one that tried to eat an alligator but exploded because its prey was so big. This snake apparently took on an animal that never stood a chance — Frances, a 1-year-old Siamese cat.

Frances vanished last week from his owner's home, but his whereabouts were possibly revealed Sunday. A snake expert says Frances is the bulge inside the 12-foot-long Burmese python.

"Poor baby. He was my favorite cat. I know Siamese (cats) are supposed to be distant, but he slept in my bed and everything," said a distraught Elidia Rodriguez, the cat's owner.

The snake was captured and taken to a nature preserve, where it will live in a glass cage.

Earlier this month, a 13-foot python had a run-in with a 6-foot American alligator in Everglades National Park, and neither animal survived. The python blew up as it tried to swallow that alligator.

Capt. Al Cruz of the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue antivenin unit said Sunday's case can likely be blamed on the recent rains.

The snakes "are looking for dry land," he said.

Many pythons, which are native to Asia and not Florida, end up in the wild after being abandoned by their owners once they grow too big to handle.

No one saw how Frances, named after one of last year's hurricanes, apparently ended up in the python's grip. Rodriguez learned of the monster snake lurking just five feet from the backyard by chance on Sunday.

A man whose stolen car was abandoned in the woods behind Rodriguez's home came by to look for his wallet in the vehicle. He found the snake instead and ran over to Rodriguez, who called 911.

It took about 10 minutes for Cruz and two other rescue workers to trap the brown-and-black snake in a king-size pillowcase.

"He was very aggressive," Cruz said. "He didn't want to be bothered."

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...ython_vs_cat_2

PS I love the URL...