Posted by:
Mike_Rochford
at Fri Oct 9 18:34:11 2009 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by Mike_Rochford ]
I can see either way. An American alligator would not naturally prey upon a Burmese python because they do not exist together under natural circumstances. However, they are all natural creatures. So it is natural and it isn't. It's hard to say that it was intentional deceit. It sounds like we still don't even know who said it except that it was posted on an FWC website or something. I could see it going either way.
My opinion is that most burms hatched in ENP and that a small number of escapes and/or releases started the large population that exists today.
I agree that burms tame down very easily but I have to say after catching 100 burms in FL that almost none of them are calm upon capture. I know how to handle snakes in a calm way that won't get me bit. When I was younger I free-handled rattlesnakes, copperheads, and coral snakes without ever getting bit. I can pick up almost any Nerodia without having it bite me. That said, almost all wild burms try to bite me no matter how calm I am in handling them. I have been able to pick up hatchlings without getting bit. The larger ones immediately respond when you touch them, no matter how careful you are. Personally, I don't care if I get bit. I've been getting bit by snakes since I was 10 (including burms) and I've never even had one get infected (though I did get a nasty bite from a garter snake this year that swelled considerably). However, since I do this for a job, my boss is responsible for anything that happens to me and if for some reason the bite should get infected or if it somehow is so bad that I need stitches then he probably has to explain that to the worker's comp people and I'm sure there is some kind of consequence for him. My boss is a pretty cool guy and I learned early on that he doesn't make rules just for the sake of making rules. So, when I'm told not to get bit, I listen. Although, in the early days I didn't realize it was such a big deal so I did get bit a few times when I first got here. Once I had one with me when I went to the airport to track the snakes and the pilot wanted to show his brother. It was just a little six or seven foot burm and I took it out of the box it was in without restraining it and hoped to avoid a bite just by handling it gently. It worked for about 10 seconds but then it gave me a brief stare and then struck and started biting me on the shoulder and arm a few times in rapid succession. I can't attempt that kind of thing anymore but I think the result would often be the same unless they had been handled a couple of times already.
I'm sure they calm down after only a little bit of handling but I usually only have to handle them once and it is just long enough to get them into a bag. I know people who have used wild-caught FL burms for snake shows and they want them to be aggressive for the show but they say they're not good snakes to use because they tame down too quickly. So I do not doubt that they are docile snakes after only a short introduction to handling. I was almost never bit by captive burms I worked with. The only times were a couple of stupid feeding errors and it was really my mistake.
Mike
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RE: Well, as a matter of fact... - Mike_Rochford, Fri Oct 9 18:34:11 2009