KEYNOTER (Marathon, Florida) 28 June 08 Python loses faceoff - Key Largo woman pummels ‘smart' Burmese intruder (Kevin Wadlow Senior)

A Burmese python picked the wrong Key Largo yard for lunch Tuesday.

Sue Nulman was startled to see the 7-foot snake devouring one of the doves that flock to a feeder in her bayside yard near mile marker 98.6.

“Thank goodness there was a big tree limb right next to me,” she said. “I'd never killed a snake in my life, but I picked up the limb and whacked it a half-dozen times.”

Her screams brought friend Brian Schofield running to the scene. He carried a 6-foot piece of metal rebar, which they used to dispatch the reptilian intruder.

“That snake was smart,” Nulman said. “He was almost completely hidden under the leaves. I didn't want to let him get away because of the damage he could do to wildlife or to pets.”

Burmese pythons aren't native to South Florida. Large numbers of them are former pets released into the wild, allowing the species to gain a foothold in the wilds of Everglades National Park. They're not poisonous but they can grow to more than a dozen feet long.

Last year, six pythons were captured on North Key Largo - the first confirmed incidents of pythons in the Keys. One was found because it had eaten a Key Largo wood rat that had a radio tracker on it and was being monitored by researchers.

And in April, residents of Marathon's Crane Point Hammock subdivision reported seeing a python that may be 20 feet or longer.

“The good news is we haven't had a single one [on North Key Largo] in the last six months,” said Steve Klett, manager of the Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge on North Key Largo. “But the fall is breeding season, so that's when they'll start moving around more.”

“I know they have them [on North Key Largo] but I never expected to see one in my yard,” Nulman said. “That snake was big enough to easily kill a 40- or 50-pound pound dog. I wanted to warn people not to leave their pets out.”

Nulman said the python that took up residence in woods near her home was identified as a male by a state park ranger.

The snake “must have been nesting in the roots of a dead tree. We have a lot of birds and squirrels so it must have been like a buffet for him,” she said.

Wildlife experts fear that a rapidly growing population of pythons could threaten native species. Pythons can lay more than 100 eggs at a time.

Juvenile pythons could recently be purchased cheaply as pets. Florida now requires a $100 permit for owners of certain exotic pets that could upset the state's ecological balance if freed.

http://www.keynoter.com/articles/2008/06/28/news/news02.txt
Python loses faceoff

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