It’s bigger than many had hoped:
Scientists from several institutions, including the National Park Service, have joined Mazzotti’s team in hopes of controlling, if not eradicating, the python population. But that’s pretty hard when it’s uncertain how many are out there and where they hang out…
…Most pythons have been seen near roads or other manmade structures, so officials had hoped they had not ventured too deeply into the park. But that turned out not to be the case. They are everywhere.
“Burmese pythons are right in the heart of Everglades National Park,” Mazzotti says. And they are wreaking havoc on the system, eating everything from gray squirrels to bobcats and threatening efforts to restore native species to the park.
Unfortunately, it’s an ideal home for pythons. They are “habitat generalists,” meaning they like to live between wet and dry areas, and they like to climb trees, and they are good swimmers, and there’s lots of animals for them to eat. That’s also just the kind of environment that appeals to alligators.
“So here they are, hanging out in the same places, doing the same things,” Mazzotti says. “And on more than one occasion, several of which were witnessed by the public, they have gotten in fights.”
I haven’t seen any, but I don’t spend that much time there.