iStockphoto / dwi septiyana
The Burmese python situation in Southwest Florida has taken a disturbing turn after field biologists from the Conservancy of Southwest Florida in Naples, one of the leading outfits into Burmese python research in Florida, found a snake measuring 14’8″ and 115.2 pounds devouring a 76.9-pound white-tailed deer.
This footage comes with a warning that it does show a large Burmese python devouring a deer. We recognize that not everyone might want to see something like that so if this isn’t something you want to see then please, do not hit the ‘play’ button on the YouTube video below that was recently shared by the Conservancy of Southwest Florida.
For those who are intrigued by how this invasive snake species could somehow devour a full-grown white-tailed deer here in Southwest Florida, this video is fascinating. I’m born and raised in Southwest Florida. I was a Boy Scout growing up and we used to camp all over this region. NEVER could I have imagined that we’d one day have snakes large enough to swallow deer like this:
This footage was published in conjunction with a new study titled ‘Big Pythons, Big Gape, and Big Prey‘ that was published in the Reptiles & Amphibians journal.
The new research from the Conservancy into the snake’s ‘gape’ which is the measurement of how far a Burmese python’s mouth can stretch, or how far any snake’s mouth can stretch. For this study, the research team “measured the greatest maximum gape recorded in Burmese pythons to date” which fundamentally changes the way this invasive snake is being thought about. The study found the ‘gape’ on Burmese pythons was larger than “previous mathematical models would suggest.”
I have a Great Pyrenees x Anatolian Shepherd mixed-breed dog. Never has it occurred to me that my dog, a livestock guardian, could be susceptible to snake predation here in Southwest Florida. But after seeing this video I have to reconsider that as an option, or at the very least be more careful when I’m camping with the dog and family.
Thankfully, I’m in the Sarasota/Siesta Key area and these pythons aren’t as much of an issue here (yet) as they are 50 or so miles to the South… That said, it is only a matter of time until one of these massive snakes like this 18+ footer is found around here…