I did not know this. There is a breeding population of Burmese pythons in the Everglades.

[Thursday morning follow up]

Here’s more on the story from AP:

Overwhelmed with pets that eat more than they do, python owners decide to release their snakes into the wild. It’s so common in the Everglades, Snow’s had to start a python hot line.

And there the Asian natives breed and find a comfortable home in the Everglades’ water, heat and vegetation. They have no predators.

Pythons have also discovered suburbia, said Capt. Ernie Jillson, who helps run the Miami-Dade County fire department’s snake squad. They catch around 20 pythons a year.

Three years ago, a 15-footer stopped traffic when he spread himself across a four-lane road. Last year, another 15-footer gave a 60-year-old woman quite the jolt when she walked outside to find the snake sunbathing on her patio. And rescue workers had to save a cat from the 10-foot python that was chasing it around the backyard pool.

Lawmaker Poppell says he’s no snake lover and doesn’t understand people’s fascination with the slithery creatures.

“How can you want something for a pet that looks at you when it’s hungry?” he said. “I don’t want something to look at me as food, I’d rather they (pets) come to me for food.”