Start of Florida Python challenge
The Burmese python is still a problem for the environment in South Florida, especially in the Everglades. No one really knows how many pythons are living in the swamp lands where the snake has been living for years.
A new question is being asked more often as the 2024 Florida Python Challenge starts on Friday at 12:01 a.m. It is one of many events being held to reduce the number of pythons, according to a recent article by Mark H. Bickel of Naples Daily News.
As you move further north in Florida, will more and more of these scary snakes show up?
Every year, the Florida Python Challenge gets people to get rid of as many snakes as they can over the course of 10 days. For the biggest haul, there are cash prizes. The task for this year ends on August 18 at 5 p.m.
In the past few years, both the News-Press and the Naples Daily News have written about pythons moving north. These are some of the things we found out and wrote about:
What is the northernmost point where a python has been found?
On November 9, 2012, a Burmese python was taken out of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, which is on the edge of the state.
A 2023 study from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) shows that Burmese pythons are growing their range so fast that it can be measured in miles per year in some places. Environment reporter Chad Gillis wrote about this in June.
The snakes were first seen in south Fort Myers and Labelle, six years ago. Since then, they’ve been seen across the Caloosahatchee River in the Port Charlotte area and further north, in the middle of Okeechobee. The story also says that they are now in Cape Coral and Pine Island.
No one knows for sure how far north and west the snakes will go, but some stories say they’ll go well past Florida’s state line.
In the past few years, both amateur and expert hunters have caught a number of snakes in that range.
In general, how far does a python go?
Right now, the area just south of Lake Okeechobee to Key Largo and western Broward County to Collier County is thought to be home to Burmese pythons.
According to the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, officials are trying to find out more about the Burmese pythons that were taken from the Charlotte County area. They don’t know where these animals came from, and there isn’t enough proof to show that they are related to the established population in south Florida.
Would pythons be able to handle the colder weather up north?
The Burmese python can only live in certain areas when it is cold.
They need a tropical and warm temperate temperature where they live, which is in India, lower China, the Malay Peninsula, and some islands in the East Indies. When the sun shines on a Burmese python, it gets about 88 degrees, which is about the same temperature as South Florida.
Where does a python live?
Most of the time, these big snakes live near streams in rainforests, but they have been known to live in grasslands, swamps, and rocky slopes as well.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News.