Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Does anyone have info on this??? I just got wind that 10 Burmese were tagged with radio transmission devices and then released back into the wild...but not sure when. Any info would be appreciated because I feel if Nelson is preaching that these are killers and they may eat tourists...why would the so called killers be released back into the wild???
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Matt Lerer
Ghi Reptiles

Hey Matt,

When the Florida Game and Fish Commission was holding their open meetings about the ROC (Reptiles of Concern) permit a couple of years back we brought up being able to try and capture "feral" snakes. It was stated at the meeting in Kissimmee that the state would support it but that the land they were on was actually governed by US Fish and Wildlife and that they couldn't give permission to hunt on those lands. He then said, I can't remember which Captain or Lieutenant it was, that all US Fish and Wildlife was doing was satellite tracking a few adult animals that they captured and released to be able to get data on areas traveled, nesting sites etc.

I wish I had more info for you.

Kevin
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Kevin Earley
Gila Monsters - Beaded Lizards - Ball Pythons

COntact Mike Dorcas at Davison College, NC. He is linked to the SREL Burmese cage study but presented some info on the radiotracked burms of the Everglades as last years NC/SC PARC meeting.

Warren
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Dr Warren Booth / Director USARK
North Carolina State University
Department of Entomology

Yea, Dorcas is apparently doing the radio telemetry study down in the everglades. He's supposedly going to be giving another presentation at this year's NCPARC meeting in March. My wife's uncle know's him well, and I'm looking forward to meeting the guy as I've definitely got some questions for him.

If its anything like his talk last year then don't expect much. Sensationalized nonsense about burmese eating your kids and moving north. He did not accept questions after his talk and would not answer anything before he left soon after.

Warren
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Dr Warren Booth / Director USARK
North Carolina State University
Department of Entomology

This terrible (claims exotic animal trade already illegal) CNN article I also linked below mentions the 10 in association with "University of Florida wildlife biologist Dr. Frank Mazzotti".
Pythons and citrus and iguanas, oh my!

Part of the effort of stopping them. They can can track their habits this way. Where they go, what they eat etc.
It might actually help if they end up finding out that Burms are eating iguanas and African pouched rats. (Another invasive species)
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"What is man without the beasts?
If all the beasts were gone,
men would die from great loneliness of spirit.
For what happens to the beasts,
soon happens to men.
All things are connected."

-Chief Seattle (Duwamish Tribe)

I believe that they were captured in the everglades and actually tagged and released in a large outdoor enclosure at the Savannah River Ecology Lab? Some kind of study to see if they could live that far north I think. I don't think any burms have been re-released into the Everglades. I might be confused though, I'll try to see if I can dig anything more up on that.

Here is the URL to a PDF of the study you were asking about.

http://www.bio.davidson.edu/people/midorcas/research/Pythons/SRELPythonProject.pdf
Link

Thanks for the help!
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Matt Lerer
Ghi Reptiles

Well, there is the group at the SREL (I think about 10 animals total), but then he's also doing radio telemetry with a group he captured and then re-released, actually in the everglades.