NATIONAL POST (Toronto, Ontario) 18 October 05 Pete the beagle leads Everglades python roundup: Canine detective: Exotics threaten supremacy of swamp alligators (Jacqui Goddard, The Daily Telegraph, UK)
Homestead, Fla.: If their recent menu choices are anything to go by, snakes on the loose in Florida might look upon Pete the beagle pup as little more than a light snack.
Yet for all his impish antics and playful demeanour, the keen-nosed canine -- known as Python Pete -- is about to become their worst nightmare. Wildlife officials have recruited the dog to help to protect the state's fragile wetlands from the giant Burmese pythons that have established themselves in the wild after being dumped as cast-off pets.
His beat is the Everglades National Park, where endangered bird and mammal species risk falling prey to the interlopers, in particular the imported Burmese python, which is now challenging local alligators as the swamps' supreme predator. Pete is trained to sniff out the creatures, then lead teams of park rangers to their hiding places, where they are trapped and humanely destroyed.
"With Pete on the trail, we're hoping their days are numbered," said Skip Snow, a National Park Service wildlife biologist. "He's the latest tool in our box, another weapon in our arsenal."
Even alligators, once the undisputed sovereigns of south Florida's swamps, have been threatened by the influx of the exotic snakes. The threat from the Burmese pythons was highlighted in a macabre incident deep in the national park last month when an ambitious four-metre specimen swallowed a two-metre alligator whole. The snake burst open and died under the strain -- and Mr. Snow found its giant corpse floating in the water, with the intact body of the alligator protruding.
Epic battles between the two supreme predators have also been seen elsewhere in the half-million-hectare park over the past three years.
In nearby urban centres such as Miami, pythons are regularly slithering into homes and gardens. Last week, Elidia Rodriguez, 66, went looking for her Siamese cat, Frances, in her garden. Instead she found a 3.5-metre Burmese python lazing behind her house with a suspicious bulge in its belly. An X-ray of the snake, now removed to a nature centre, revealed the body of her cat.
Managers of the Everglades National Park hope Python Pete's high-profile detective work will help to stop people from turning exotic pets loose in the wilderness, where they may threaten resident species such as the mangrove fox squirrel.
Although reptiles such as the Burmese python may start life pocket-sized, they can grow to three metres within three years and measure up to six metres at adulthood.
"You end up with snakes pushing the limit of space and capacity, and people who are making bad decisions as to what to do with them," said Mr. Snow. "They've become as disposable as plastic razors."
Lori Oberhofer, a wildlife researcher based with Mr. Snow at the South Florida Natural Resource Centre, inside the national park at Homestead, bought Pete as an eight-week-old puppy in July last year. His first "gift" was a soft snake toy.
He accompanies Ms. Oberhofer to work every day. When she slips his red harness and lead on, he senses he is "on duty" and all but drags her outside to show off his snake-sniffing skills.
For training purposes the beagle practises with Bob, a Burmese python found in the Everglades last year. Ms. Oberhofer carries Bob, curled in a cloth bag, through the long grass and lays the snake gently under a tree. Then she gives Pete the instruction, "Find."
With twitching nose and wagging tail, Pete, whose olfactory sensors are thousands of times more sensitive than a human's, sweeps from side to side through the undergrowth and locates the snake in seconds. The dog's reward is a piece of fried liver.
"He's been nose-to-nose with a couple of native snakes before and he hasn't shown an interest; he leaves them right alone," Ms. Oberhofer said. "He's only trained with the scent of Burmese pythons. They're the bad guys he's got to go after."
The weather is still too hot for Pete to start missions, but once it cools, the Everglades' fugitive serpents will have enjoyed their last peaceful post-lunch nap.