A Number I Don't Want To Know

At last! Burmese Pythons in the Everglades are in the headlines!

Skip Snow, a wildlife biologist with the US National Park Service, is the man leading efforts to eradicate giant Burmese python snakes from Everglades National Park and he does not sound optimistic when he talks about the chances of winning the battle against the invasive beasts.

That is partly because he doesn't know how many of these monsters are in the swampy Florida park.

It could be literally thousands, It could be a number I don't want to know. It could be scary.

Since 1995 a total of 212 Burmese pythons have been killed or removed from the park or adjacent lands, including 95 last year.

Compounding his eradication problems is the fact that the big, alligator and Siamese cat eating snakes are also happily breeding in the wild.

Florida will also hold its first Snake Amnesty Day on May 6, for anyone who might want to dispose of their Burmese pythons or other members of the Boa family legally.

Skip Snow says, All of the Burmese pythons that we see in the park are a product of the international pet trade.