The Conservancy team currently tracks 40 scout snakes during the breeding season, which occurs from November through April.
The Conservancy of Southwest Florida has removed more than 6,300 lbs. of Burmese python this removal season, putting the total to more than 20 tons since the Conservancy’s python research and removal program began in 2013.
“We have been on the front line of the invasive python battle for more than a decade,” Ian Bartoszek, wildlife biologist and Conservancy Science Project Manager said in a press release put out by the Conservancy. “Removing more than 40,000 pounds of snake, carried out through some of Florida’s unrelenting wildlife habitats, is a heavy-lifting assignment. But, through years of dedicated research, we’ve developed science-based methods to track this apex predator more effectively and mitigate its damage to our native wildlife population.” Bartoszek oversees the python program.
The program is dependent on male Burmese pythons, called scout snakes. These snakes are outfitted with radio-telemetry and are used to lead the researchers to reproductively active female pythons. Going after these large female pythons is a more targeted approach, enabling the scientists to remove these snakes before they lay eggs. The Conservancy team currently tracks 40 scout snakes during the breeding season, which occurs from November through April.
These snakes are monitored through a 200 square mile area that consists of both public and private lands. These lands are targeted from Naples through the Western Everglades. The scientists have revealed that the scout snakes are having issues finding suitable females or the females that they are locating are smaller in size than what they found during previous years. In 2022, a scout snake located a 215 lbs. Burmese python in the Everglades. That snake measured nearly 18 feet in length and was the largest female by weight captured in the Florida. It was the largest female snake removed from the Conservancy’s efforts. It carried 122 eggs. An average clutch is around 43 eggs. The largest male snake captured measured 16 feet and weight 140 lbs.
“Burmese pythons are impressive creatures that are here from no fault of their own,” Bartoszek said. “As wildlife biologists, we have tremendous respect for all snake species. However, we understand the impact invasive pythons are having on the biodiversity in our area, and we humanely remove them from the ecosystem as part of the Conservancy’s commitment to protecting our water, land, wildlife, and future.”
Burmese Python Natural Habitat
While the Burmese python is considered an invasive species in the state of Florida, in its native Southeast Asian range, the large constrictor is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN. In its natural habitat, the snake can be found in eastern India, Nepal, Western Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam Malaysia souther China, Hong Kong, and Indonesia. It inhabits marshes, swamps, foothills, woodlands, jungles, and grasslands. In the United States, the snake is confined to southern Florida in the Florida Everglades, though one was found in northern Florida as well as the Florida panhandle’s coastal areas. It has not been found outside the state of Florida.
