Via MrClean1982 on Flickr, an interesting and humorous image of an American white ibis (Eudocimus albus) in the Florida Everglades.
BREAK
A master agreement has been reached between the South Florida Water Management District and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that puts the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan back on track. From MiamiHerald.com:
The “master agreement” details how the South Florida Water Management District and the Army Corps of Engineers will share costs and duties for 68 projects Congress approved in 2000 to restore the natural flow of the River of Grass.
Both sides hailed the agreement — reached when the Obama administration relented in a dispute over land values likely to shift as much as a half-billion dollars onto the federal ledger — as a breakthrough that should move restoration from talk to action.
. . .
Terrence “Rock” Salt, a deputy assistant secretary of the Army who oversees the Corps, said construction could begin within months, starting with reclamation of 55,000 acres in the Picayune Strand, site of a Southwest Florida development that flopped decades ago. The Corps has $41 million in stimulus funding for that job.
. . .
Over the next two years, the Obama administration has budgeted or is seeking congressional approval for almost a half-billion dollars to begin restoration projects, including ones to restore freshwater flows to Biscayne Bay coastal wetlands, overhaul the C-111 canal to keep more water in Everglades National Park and build a reservoir to bolster Broward County’s water supply and limit seepage from adjacent Everglades marshes.
Down the road, the agreement also could potentially open the door for federal help to complete Gov. Charlie Crist’s controversial $536 million deal to buy 73,000 acres from the U.S. Sugar Corp. and convert them to massive reservoirs and pollution-treatment marshes.
Meanwhile, Florida’s Burmese python problem literally continues to grow bigger and bigger. From MiamiHerald.com:
Staff at the Okeechobee Veterinary Hospital routinely handle large animals. Along with pet dogs and cats, they treat hogs, horses, cows and bulls.
But the enormous critter that slithered uninvited onto the hospital grounds Thursday stunned everyone. It turned out to be one of the biggest Burmese pythons found roaming free in Florida.
The constrictor stretched 17 feet, two inches and measured 26 inches around at its thickest point. It weighed in at a staggering 207 pounds — four pounds more than the Miami Dolphins’ brawny No. 1 draft pick, Vontae Davis.
. . .
Florida wildlife managers pointed to the find as the latest, and largest, evidence that the exotic snake, which has settled into the Everglades, is spreading across the state.
“The capture of this large python shows us how well these snakes can thrive in the wild and create a dangerous situation after illegal release or escape,” said Rodney Barreto, chairman of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. “It also illustrates why the FWC is partnering with other agencies to implement python control measures in South Florida.”
Two weeks ago, the FWC began an experimental permit program that allows reptile experts to euthanize Burmese pythons on state-managed lands around the Everglades, where the population is now estimated to number in the tens of thousands.
But the python patrol didn’t bag the giant snake that made its way onto the hospital’s 20-acre compound.
. . .
Wildlife officers scanned for a microchip, required for pets under state law since 2007, but found nothing.
The images below show a Burmese python that was caught and killed by a South Florida Water Management District employee. The female python measured 16.2′ in total length and weighed 117-pounds with 59 large oviductal eggs, which were all fertile. The images are credited to Skip Snow/Everglades National Park.
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Photo source for attribution. The author or licensor of this image does not endorse my work or me and their image is protected under an attribution license.
How can we feel safe anymore to be outside, is there something we can do to keep them away like people tell me use mothballs around the house
does that really work
Hope the Everglades get better with this new work and dedication. Are the snakes becoming a serious issue, as in, would you see them out and about?
Scary!
I’m torn about this. It’s not the snakes’ fault that their idiot owners couldn’t build proper enclosures and they escaped. Killing a pregnant female is kind of brutal. You have it in captivity, adopt it out to an experienced reptile keeper, donate it to a zoo – it doesn’t need to be killed.
Burmese pythons can’t harm people that much, unless the person is dumb enough to let it wrap around them. The only snake capable of eating a full grown person is the Green Anaconda.
The only good snake is a dead snake
just a btw most of the snakes down there have gotten loose when hurricanes have hit
I agree with Danielle. If we continue to punish animals for our mistakes, we’ll have more extinct species than we have living species. Snakes are creepy-crawly to lots of people, but that doesn’t mean they don’t deserve life.
this snake is scary
I agree with destroying this animal as they are devastating the everglades, I have owned several and all these things do is EAT! With that being said, unless you have a chicken coop or an outside pet (dog, cat, goat etc) you really have nothing to worry about they will hiss and strike at you if you step right on top of them but I promise all they want to do is escape! Statistically dogs are far more dangerous then these giant pythons, particularly if you take into consideration the number of attacks from these snakes as a result of owner error.
All animals such as this snake which are not indiginous to the area(s) in question have no fault in being released in the wild, the fault goes to those who think they know and can control, later down the road they find they can not. How sad that this snake and her (un)hatchlings through no fault of her own met death early!
Realistically and ironically man is the deadliest creature upon this planet!
People tend to forget that we were not here first, if you don’t like it, it’s called BUILDING A WALL. A true concrete wall between where they actually need to live than our place of wanting to live. A big difference between a want and a need. We want, they need, don’t blame them, they are instinctive where as we are intelligent.
And the human race is supposed to be the smartest race.. Burmese Pythons are from BURMA is Southeast Asia. The only reason why these pythons have moved to America is because of the terrible misjudgment of humans that decided they wanted Burmese Pythons as pets, and when they became threatening or too big for their UNNATURAL habitat they let free in the wild. These pythons found a home in the Everglades and started reproducing. They have no natural predators so now they are leading other species towards extinction (including the cougar) and now people kill them? Or are afraid and don’t feel safe? This is ridiculous that these exotic animals are getting killed because of our race. They should be exported or kept in captivity at zoos and wildlife centers without breeding until they die. Until this specie is removed they will continue to spread further north (because of global warming) and lead many more species towards extinction. Humans ruin everything natural on this planet.
Poor girl, such an unnecessary murder of a pregnant female. They caught her why kill her?
Could the same be said of rats in New York? Should no one kill a rat in New York, because all, we introduced them to New York. They aren’t as exotic as the Burmese, but they should still have the same right to life. Right?
to many rats cause sanitation problems and that would lead to the Black Plague killing most of New York that is why we kill the rodents.
they may have carried the plague but that effected lodon more than america there are better ways of handling tha snake problem as well as the rat problem, scuh as putting them back into a natural habitat or having a responsible snake owner or zoo take care of them.
kill the dumb snakes. they don’t belong. We hunt and kill feral pigs and ground hogs to keep things in check. We can’t kill enough of these snakes. This specific species that doesn’t belong. The species is not native and need to be hunted to extinction in this specific location, Florida.
Definitely! I do not hate snakes, or any kind of animal, but I find this situation SO WRONG.
They should have banned the importation decades ago.
It is not the snakes fault, but they are becoming a real danger for ecosystems in Florida (and soon the neighbouring states). I totally agree with treehuger, we must kill ‘em all, before it’s too late.
And save some of the fire for the f*#*# tards that have released them in the wild, what a bunch of unconscious beings!
hahaha you think the people who owned the snake are responsible for their release and than have the nerve to call them fucktards really how mature. when our goverments scientest have created a mutated virus and have it locked up and you think that won’t be released like i’ve said to others on here there are more important things to worry about than the pythons in the everglades. if you want to call anyone a fucktards think about the way you treat others first.
Can we please get real here? I heard an interview last night on NPR with a biologist who has done scads of research on these snakes. He said that they have already destroyed over 90% of MOST of the mammal species that are indigenous to the Everglades–98.9% of raccoons, for instance; 94% of the deer. The list was long of what we have already lost. And where do you think these snakes go when their food supply in the Everglades runs out? You don’t think they’ll go into the suburbs and outlying areas where people live and start eating cats and dogs and . . . small children? Get a head on your shoulders! It doesn’t really make any difference how they got here. We have to solve the problem as it is NOW. I don’t mind catching them and “deporting” them back to Burma or to a zoo or somewhere. But Dr. Michael Dorcas said that there may be as many as hundreds of THOUSANDS of these pythons in the Everglades already! I say KILL THEM. KILL THEM ALL! Better them than someone’s little child.
You say this about the pythons what about the killer bees from africa that have been mating with our honey bee’s or the mongoose that have been let free in in hawai yes there may be hundreds or thousands even but there is away to get rid of them without killing them. have you ever thought of putting them back in their natural habitats!!!! Really it’s people like you that take the word of one scientest and then say kill them without thinking of other possibilities. your the one that needs to get a head on your shoulders, not every one has the same opinion as you. yes their food supply amy run out, and they may go and find other speices to eat,but there are more important problems than the pythons in the everglades!!!
you need to think before you talk from now on. If the so called 100′s of thousands of these snakes were to be released in there natural habitat do you understand what would happen? They would eat every animal there until all were extinct then they would die off. Only way to deal with this is kill them and ban people from importing them unless the animal is registered and licensed to the trained care taker/zoo.
what wa that comment again The only good snake is a dead snake dont think so ya very wrong just shows ya dont like snakes…………….
You people saying “don’t kill them, leave them alone” obviously don’t live in the area where they have become a threat. Your kids aren’t going to school in these areas.. be realistic.
Let’s take over the world my minions. Let’s eat these silly humans.