Burmese+Python+-+Mariel

Burmese Python __**General Information:**__ The Burmese Python or //Python molurus bivittatus,// native to the “tropical lowlands, mangrove forest, rain-forest, wet grasslands and coastal plains of the Indo-Chinese Peninsula and southeastern China“. The Burmese Python has become an exotic, invasive species, non-native species in an area that usually to Florida’s Everglades (2). Burmese Pythons have a distinguishing pattern. It is light brown/green with dark brown spots. It has a more rectangular shaped head then a any water snake or rattlesnake and it is a heavier snake than the native snakes found in Florida (1).

Burmese Pythons can live up to 25 years and can grow up to 20 feet long. It can reach a width of a telephone pole and can eat a full-grown deer or alligator. For a females life cycle, she must be about 10 feet before they can breed. Males are usually smaller. They can mate when they are 8 feet long. Cold temperatures trigger a females ovulation. Mating last several hours and gestation last two to three months. A female can lay from 15 to 25 eggs. After the eggs are laid, the female must keep the eggs warm similar to birds and it takes two months for the babies to be born (3).
 * __Reproduction and Life Cycle:__**



Burmese Pythons are generalist. This means that they do not have a specific food they eat. They are not picky, therefore, when they are hungry they will eat anything they find. The following are some examples of which Burmese Pythons have been found to feed on:  media type="youtube" key="yCS-dDuSwMk" width="425" height="350" __Mammals__ Rabbit (//Sylvilagus sp.//) Hispid cotton rat (//Sigmodon hispidus//) Cotton mouse (//Peromyscus gossypinus//) Gray squirrel (//Sciurus carolinensis//) Fox squirrel (//Sciurus niger//) Domestic cat (//Felis catus//) Raccoon (//Procyon lotor//) Old world rats (//Rattus sp.//) Virginia opossum (//Didelphis virginiana//) Bobcat (//Felis rufus//) Round-tailed muskrat (//Neofiber alleni//) Rice rat (//Oryzomys palustris//) White-tailed deer (//Odocoileus virginianus//) Key Largo woodrat (//Neotoma floridana smalli//)
 * __Diet__**:

__Birds__ Pied-billed grebe (//Podilymbus podiceps//) Limpkin (//Aramus guarauna//) White ibis (//Eudocimus albus//) American coot (//Fulica american//) House wren (//Troglodytes aedon//) Domestic goose (//Anser sp.)//

__Reptiles__ American alligator (//Alligator mississippiensis//) The way in which Burmese Pythons kill their pray is by suffocation due to constriction. The reason the Burmese Pythons are successful is because it is a generalist, therefore, whichever food source it eats in Burma has no affect on it even if the animals or plants found in Burma differ from those found in the Florida Keys (1).

Burmese Pythons usually resides in places near water because they are great swimmers. They can be found near marshes, swamps, rocky foothill, river valleys woodlands and jungles. They are found in places ranging from India to Laos and Vietnam. The reason in which the pythons arrived in the United States was because pythons can become pets but once they get to big people let them free illegally (3).
 * __Habitat and Distribution:__**

They have a negative effect on the Florida Keys ecosystem because some of the endangered species found in the Everglades become pray to the Pythons and since they are generalist they have a potential to consume a great deal of these endangered species, especially since they reproduce very quick and have quite a few babies. There have also been several cases where these pythons have killed their owners (3).
 * __Affects On the Ecosystem:__**

The main control measures that are taken are that the law enforcement find and capture these snakes and if they are not put into captivity then they are euthanized (2).
 * __Control Measures:media type="youtube" key="7wHKMyfgeTs" width="425" height="350" align="right"__**

1. Rebecca G. Harvey, Matthew L. Brien, Michael S. Cherkiss, Michael Dorcas, Mike Rochford, Ray W. Snow, and Frank J. Mazzotti. “Burmese Pythons in South Florida: Scientific Support for Invasive Species Management”. University of Florida: IFAS Extension. 2. David G. Barker and Tracy M. Barker. “The Distribution of the Burmese Python, //Python molurus bivittatus”. Bull. Chicago Herp. Soc. 43(3):33-38, 2008// 3. Secor SM, Diamond J "Determinants of the postfeeding metabolic response of Burmese pythons, Python molurus" Physiological Zoology 70(2), page 202-212 (1997)
 * __Works Cited__**