The Range: The Tucson Weekly's Daily Dispatch
Blog Categories: Politics | News | Chow | Music | Do This! | Media | TV | Arts and Culture | Fun in General | Sports | Cinema | Snapshot | more categories»
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Pets and Beasts It's Time to Learn Parseltongue
Posted by Dan Gibson on Tue, Jan 31, 2012 at 4:00 PM
I think we should be ok in Arizona for awhile, but I think as a country, it might be time to cut Florida loose, build a giant wall keeping the snakes in, and save the other 49 states while we still can:
Burmese pythons are eating machines. An adult snake can grow to nearly 20 ft., and it can eat everything raccoons to bobcats to deer to alligators, killing its prey by constriction and then swallowing them whole. On the jungle food chain, Burmese pythons rest near the top....Now a new study published in this week’s Proceedings for the National Academy of Sciences suggests just how big a threat the invasive Burmese pythons have become. Researchers led by Michael Dorcas of Davidson College in North Carolina looked at the distribution of mammals in the Everglades nearly 20 years ago—before Burmese pythons established themselves in the area—and then more recently. They found a drastic reduction in the number of small mammals that are typically part of a python’s diet, and they also discovered that the remaining mammals tend to be most abundant in areas that are either clear of pythons or where the snakes have only recently been spotted. The evidence is strong enough to suggest that invasive Burmese pythons are causing significant wildlife loss in the Everglades—and that the problem could worsen as the snakes continues to grow.
Comments (1)
Showing 1-1 of 1
Previously in the Range
-
Critter of the Week: Lucas
- May 23, 2013
-
Can Someone Save This Dog?
- May 20, 2013
-
Critter of the Week: Benny
- May 8, 2013
- More »
More by Dan Gibson
-
Phoenix After Five Albums
The French indie pop act found success with their last album ... now what?
- Apr 4, 2013
-
Editor's Note
C'mon, Candidates!
- Apr 25, 2013
- More »
Staff Pick
UA Library Special Collections
50 Years: Civil Rights in Arizona from 1963 to Today, an exhibit of documents, photographs and papers… More
Popular Content
- Brewer Wasn't Kidding, Vetoes All the Non-Budget Bills (The Range: The Tucson Weekly's Daily Dispatch)
- Oh Hey, the University of Arizona Was Knocked by Family Guy (The Range: The Tucson Weekly's Daily Dispatch)
- The Continuing Saga of Amy's Baking Company; No Press Conference, No PR Firm (The Range: The Tucson Weekly's Daily Dispatch)
- Atheist State Rep's Secular Invocation Done Over 'In Repentance' By Christian State Rep. (The Range: The Tucson Weekly's Daily Dispatch)
- Lawmaker Threatened Over Medicaid Expansion (The Range: The Tucson Weekly's Daily Dispatch)
© 2013 Tucson Weekly | 3280 E. Hemisphere Loop, Suite 180, Tucson AZ 85706 | P.O. Box 27087, Tucson AZ 85726-7087 | (520) 294-1200 | Powered by Foundation
