A Burmese python in the Everglades with a penchant for venison gulped down three whole deer — one doe and two fawns — before wildlife officials captured and euthanized it, a new study reveals.
The gustatory feat sets a record: It's the first invasive Burmese python (Python molurus bivittatus) caught with three deer in its gut, said study co-lead author Scott Boback, an associate professor of biology at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania.
The python probably attacked and ate the deer at different times over a 90-day period, Boback said. That time span may seem long, but it's actually quite surprising that a snake would eat three enormous meals in a relatively short window, Boback told Live Science. [Photos: This Invasive Python Ate Three Wild Deer]
"If a python is capable of eating three deer in three months," what else are they eating that we don't know about, he asked. "We don't even know how many of them are out there [in the Everglades]."
More/Images
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
Tiny deer
ReplyDeleteMaybe they need to put a bounty on them instead of just hunting season. It almost eliminated the coyote, wolf, buffalo, and other species in this country!
ReplyDeleteWho brought these snakes to America?
ReplyDeleteThey're everywhere!!! Traveling down south division street from walmart one had traffic stopped stretched across road. Idiots think they can handle them as a pet then reality sets in and they get released into the wild. About two years ago they caught a crocodile in woods on south end of Camden ave
ReplyDeleteOMG OMG
ReplyDeletePut them in the rio grand!
ReplyDelete