Python in Malaysia digesting a pregnant sheep

The giant Burmese python has established itself in Southern Florida, after people released their pet reptiles, which had taken to squashing things larger than rats, before sucking them face first into their heads. They can grow up to 20 feet long, and can survive over huge tracts of the US. Including California, where they could be mistaken for producers and deluged with scripts by waiters weeping with hope.

Here is US Geological Service snake specialist, Gordon Rodda:

“We are very concerned right now about some of the mammals in South Florida and some of the birds that may be extirpated or even made extinct by this new predator. In addition, it is going to be a burden on people that have domestic animals of a suitable size, so we’re thinking ducks, geese, chickens, turkeys as well as smaller mammals, dogs, cats, sheep,” said Rodda. “And, of course, an animal that big potentially constitutes a health hazard for small people.”

The menace facing much of the more outdoorsy parts of the US is neatly symbolised by this recent story from Cairns.

“A five-meter python stalked an Australian family’s dog for days before swallowing the pet whole in front of horrified children, local media said on Wednesday.”

The animal was pretty small – a silky terrier-chihuahua cross. According to a local expert, it had “actively stalked” the dog for several days, and had been seen in its bed.

“The body of the family’s cat had been found a few weeks earlier looking as if something had tried to swallow it and on Sunday a smaller python ate the family’s pet guinea pig.”

That is only a scrub python, which remains relatively thin, though it has been known to grow to 8.5m or 28.5 feet.

Knowing this family’s luck with small creatures in the home, there is a rilly rilly big snake slithering towards them and their offspring as you read this.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 27th, 2008 at 11:36 pm and is filed under strangely compelling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.