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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

Have you noticed that every article that mentions pythons now states that they are "not native, but part of an established population from released pets" or something to that extent?

I just came back from the Everglades and the Keys. I didn't see any Burms, but I did see a ton of green iguanas.

All I can say is there goes the press again. Not knowing what they are talking about. Burms can lay a 100 eggs at a time, not really. Yes they can once they reach a certain size but alot of people do not know that. Also the permits in Fla are not $100.00. A good friend of mine lives down there and they are $250.00. Just my two cents
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Education is Everything.......

No, the python permits are $100, I just paid for mine.

and.... i'm not seeing a burm eating a 50 lb dog.... thats a damn near a small german shepherd....
and 100 eggs--- holy smokes.... thats a lot of "eggs" ....

whatever

~B
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The rescue site: www.freewebs.com/okreptilerescue

ok, larual. Thanks. Must have miss understood my friend.
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Education is Everything.......

Maybe it's his total cost?

The ROC permit is $100

To exhibit/sell reptiles is $50 (not everyone has to pay that Class III permit)

Microchipping by my vet is $40 without an exam. Some vets would charge more if they included an office exam.

So actually it's more than a 100.00 for the first go around. Because part of the permit is micro chipping and it sounds like the micro chipping has it's own fee.
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Education is Everything.......

It just depends, really. If you don't exhibit or sell reptiles, then you don't need the $50 Class III permit. Most Burm owners already have a Class III because they are breeders or exhibitors anyway. By the way, pythons kept for breeding stock only don't have to be microchipped. Pythons kept for pets don't have to have the $50 permit, but are 'supposed' to file a wildlife 'pet ownership' free permit. People weren't doing that, hence the $100 ROC permit. If you have a vet who can chip for free, then that cost is eliminated, too.

So, bottom line, my first time ROC cost was $100 for the permit and $40 for the vet (microchip). If I was a breeder, I would only have had to pay the $100.

Umm sorry to tell you premit are only 100 bucks. I own 2 myself. Had to have microchipped which was roughly 70 bucks a piece and for my license it's 100 every year per snake. A small price to pay for a beautiful animal.

That was completely unneccesary. I'd love to beat that woman with a shovel.