Python removal program is growing in southwest Florida

NAPLES, Florida. Invasive Burmese pythons have been decimating native mammal populations in the Greater Everglades ecosystem for years, but a new partnership aims to expand the fight against the elusive predators.

With funding from the Fish & Wildlife Foundation from Florida’s Conserve Wildlife Label Grants, biologists from the Conservancy of Southwest Florida have added 10 scout snakes to their Burmese python research and removal program.

Ian Bartoszek, a wildlife biologist with the Conservancy, said he started the joint research project and developed the program over the past eight years and has grown it over the past two seasons thanks to help from the Naples Foundation and Zoo.

Conservation Associate Mady Eori with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida holds a 15 foot, 125 pound female Burmese python in the Picayune Strand State Forest.

The Conservancy works with the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Collier-Seminole State Park, and Big Cypress National Preserve for its regional program.

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Most recent efforts for the Scout program came within the confines of Picayune Strand State Forest, a 74,000 acre Everglades restoration project in Collier County.

“It’s been encouraging in the last couple of seasons to expand into Picayune and see where and how often the snakes show up,” he said. “The pythons we’ve found in Picayune over the past few seasons have been huge. This is an indication that these invasive snakes are not under a lot of pressure. “

Scout snakes, also called sentinel snakes, are male pythons with surgically implanted radio transmitters.

Bartoszek and his crew at the Conservancy chase these snakes to find female pythons that are reproductively active.

A female Burmese python can lay anywhere from 12 to 95 eggs, depending on size, and generally reproduce every two years, he said. An average clutch usually consists of around 43 eggs.

Funding from the Foundation brought the Conservancy’s scout snakes to 35.

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“We were thrilled to fund such an innovative approach to fighting invasions,” said Andrew Walker, president and CEO of the foundation, in a press release. “The Conservancy is using science and speed to eliminate one of the greatest threats to wild Florida. We look forward to working with them again to drive this work forward. “

To date, the conservancy has removed 20,000 pounds of invasive pythons from approximately 100 square miles in southwest Florida. That’s the equivalent of about 115 people who weigh about 175 pounds each.

The boy scout snakes can lead biologists to so-called mating aggregates or groups of reproductive pythons. Bartoszek said the largest he saw in the field were eight snakes (seven males and a single female).

Tracking down the scouts is no easy task.

Bartoszek remembered chasing a scout named Loki, loading kayaks, paddling down a deep canal, and chopping through inhospitable terrain.

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The group’s third visit to Loki had finally paid off, he said.

Amid thick cover, Bartoszek happened to look down and saw a huge snake, weighing over 150 pounds, stretched out in front of him on the ground.

Mady Eori and Ian Easterling were with Bartoszek at the time, and as he held onto the 16-foot python female, Eori showed up with a snake in each hand while Easterling held two more by the tail.

Ian Bartoszek, Conservancy Science Project Manager at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, holds a five-meter-long Burmese python while one of the group’s “Scout” snakes lies at his feet in the Picayune Strand State Forest.

“This is a good day for us,” said Bartoszek. “250 pounds of python coming out feels like victory.”

Conservancy biologists will often select other males in these mating aggregates to become newly tagged boy scout snakes.

“Not all new Boy Scouts are successful,” he said. “But if you find a proven male who often leads you to active bitches, the new boys should pay off next season. Stay tuned, ”he said.

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A 2016 study published in the journal Biological Invasions says that while scout snakes can be costly, the use of scouting snakes results in “larger, reproductive females and is effective at a time of the year when street cruising is not possible are”.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has a hotline that residents can call if they spot an invasive Burmese python. Report sightings at 888-IVE-GOT1 (888-483-4681).

“Make sure it’s a python,” said Bartoszek. “Get a photo, call the hotline, stay with the animal and inform the rescue service about this location and we will pack it up. We cannot do this ourselves; we need an army of observers and respondents out there. “

The Foundation’s Conserve Wildlife marks can be purchased online at wildflorida.org/cwt.

Indian River County’s tax collector will handle the online orders, although residents from anywhere in the state can purchase one. The records cost $ 58 plus annual registration fees.

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Plates can also be purchased from the local tax authorities.

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