South Florida researchers are working on a new way to track and capture invasive Burmese pythons using small mammals equipped with GPS devices, according to reports.
The Tampa Bay Times reported that a group of researchers has been observing the behavior of raccoons and opossums at the edges of the Crocodile National Wildlife Refuge, located nearly 40 miles south of Miami in Key Largo.
FILE – A Burmese python is held during a safe-catch demonstration on June 16, 2022 in Miami. More than 800 competitors will roam the Florida Everglades over the next eight days in search of invasive Burmese pythons that will generate thousands of dollars in prizes. The python hunt officially began on Friday, August 5, and will run through August 15. Officials who gathered in Miami to kick off the annual campaign say it’s important because non-native snakes are killing birds and mammals in the Everglades ecosystem. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)
All of the small animals the researchers have been observing have GPS collars, allowing the team to track the locations of the opossums and raccoons.
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After about five months, the researchers had a small breakthrough when a field-used opossum collar suddenly stopped moving for a few hours, then started up again.
The lack of movement triggered what the researchers called a kill signal, but when it started moving again, the researchers had a hunch that a snake might have eaten the small mammal, said Michael Cove, curator of mammals at the Science Museum. Natives of North Carolina. he told the Tampa Bay Times.
Cove is working on the project with members of the US Fish and Wildlife Service and Southern Illinois University.
Apartment Ali Skipper Orlando Python (Patron Ali)
However, it remained in the area while it digested the possum before relocating with the GPS tracker inside.
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Although it took researchers a month to locate the tracker as the snake weaved its way in and out of Key Largo’s maze of caves, when they did, they found a 12-foot-long, 66-pound female python packed with egg follicles. A snake like this has the potential to lay 100 eggs and capturing one and removing it from the ecosystem can prevent hundreds of future snakes from entering the ecosystem.
After euthanizing the snake, the Times reported, the researchers were able to cut open the snake and retrieve the collar, so that it could be attached to another opossum at a later date.
The researchers found that the collars equipped with small mammals give them a new way to track Burmese pythons, which are from Southeast Asia and were introduced to the Everglades in the 1990s.
Asian python in the river in Nepal (iStock)
According to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Burmese pythons are not native to the Sunshine State and their presence in the Everglades and South Florida ecosystem negatively affects native species, as a female Burmese can put 50 to 100 eggs at a time.
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Since 2000, more than 17,000 wild Burmese pythons have been removed from the state of Florida, the FWC reported.
In October, the state held the 2022 Florida Python Challenge to capture and remove dozens of snakes from the ecosystem. The challenge winner was a 19-year-old who caught 28 of the 231 kills during the 10-day challenge, earning him $10,000.
While the researchers told the Times that this method of hunting pythons won’t eradicate snakes from Florida, they say it’s the closest thing to a proven method of attracting larger female snakes by using larger raccoons and larger male opossums. big.
The challenge is to produce a collar that stays on the python and bypasses its digestive system. One idea being worked on, the Times reported, is a tracker with cable ties that can hook into the snake’s digestive tract.
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As-is, the collars cost $1,500 each with a two-year shelf life, and ultimately the researchers hope to use cheaper VHS collars at $200 each.
