Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Those of you who have heard me tell this story, I now have a copy of the photo for you, those who have not heard it here it is one more time;

As many of you know, I am a Deputy Sheriff in Collier County FL. Part of our area covers the Everglades Swamp. There is a sustainable population of Wild Burmese Python that now call the Everglades home. Well one night about three years ago a trucker stop off at our Everglades Sub Station to let us know he ran over a snake, it was very early morning, still night really. Well the reaction from our Deputies was, “duh, this is the Everglades everyone one runs over snakes.” But the driver was shook up and claimed this snake to be “Huge, the size of a telephone pole!” Well as opposed to arresting this truck driver for DUI, one of our Sgt.s went to go see what this fellow was so worked up about and this is what they found.

The Ford Crown Vic Patrol car is 21’9” long not including the push bumpers on the front. The Burmese Python came 6” short of the rear bumper of the Squad Car when laid out next to it. This is one of the Wild Burms found in our swamp down here.

I have a third picture it is of a South FL Water Management worker who swore that he had killed a 12‘+ Diamond Back Rattle snake out in what we call the South Block (the northern fringe of the Everglades Swamp) He sent me this picture and sure enough he killed a 12’ snake but it was another Burm, these things are all over the place. I can not get this picture to load onto Kingsnake, file size too big, but I can e-mail it to anyone who would like to see it! Fish and Game have recorded 4 incidents with Alligators and Burms Struggling with each other. In all four cases the gator ended up with the Burm, but it appears that Burms have developed a taste for gator meat and seem to attack them regardless of size. At time I love living in South FL, The Feral animal capital of the WORLD!!!

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Jim Hopkins "Hoppy"
Hopkins Holesale Herps
Hopfam1@aol.com

Here it is from a different view and better to see what it is

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Jim Hopkins "Hoppy"
Hopkins Holesale Herps
Hopfam1@aol.com

irresponsible people man !! if people would be a bit more aware of who they sell these animals to we wouldnt have this problem man .. i see us having to deal with reptile laws and restrictions down here in the south veeeeery soon due to idiots like these
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NO BEAUTY LIKE THE BEAUTY OF A TRUE REDTAIL !!

no post
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Randall L Turner Jr.
www.aircapitalconstrictors.com

I'd like to see the other picture if you have time to send it to me....

Thanks, Chris O

>>Here it is from a different view and better to see what it is
>>
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>>Jim Hopkins "Hoppy"
>>Hopkins Holesale Herps
>>Hopfam1@aol.com
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"Snakes are icky."

i seen one down along 29 south of imokalee.
I live in lehigh acres and see rattlers, corns rats and stuff all the time. I live next to a big canal that stays wet all year around, and get gators in my yard and all kinds of turtles , frogs, lizards. its awsome.
My stepson found a wild ball python at his friends house. about 2' long.
20-30 years from now, theres gonna be a sizable python population in florida.
but at what price? they have to eat something.
it makes camping and fishing down here an extreme sport.

Take it easy
mike combs

That is on 29 going towards Everglades City
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Jim Hopkins "Hoppy"
Hopkins Holesale Herps
Hopfam1@aol.com

That is amazing! I imagine life is very interesting for a herper in Florida. You really never know what you will find.
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Linda Hedgpeth
lindafh@frontiernet.net
Sierra Serpents

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away"

Just keep spreading that misinformation. A Ford Crown Victoria is NOT 21’9” long. Damn I feel like i'm listening to some dumbass zoo keeper overseas. You need a new tape measure.
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Jeff West

Howdy all, I have lived down in Kendall and spent much time along the edges of the 'glades, and I have seen big burms on occasion and spoken to a few park rangers who know some areas where they are common sights. There are also a few green anacondas of a good size as well, and both species have settled in to the area and are thriving. In response to the length of a crown vicky, Jeff is correct the length listed on ford's website is 212 inches, this is 17 feet, 8 inches plus the push bars on a police cruiser. Still a big snake to run into in the wild though, especially if you are waist deep in everglades muck and mud.

I was thinking the same thing...I had to measure my extended cab silverado when we were building our new house and it was only 21.5 feet long...and there's no way a crown vic is longer than my truck.

Still, that's a huge burm, and much bigger (and healthier appearing) than most people are able to get them in captivity!

thanks for the pics!

>>Just keep spreading that misinformation. A Ford Crown Victoria is NOT 21’9” long. Damn I feel like i'm listening to some dumbass zoo keeper overseas. You need a new tape measure.
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>>Jeff West

Yep definitely a bid snake still. Unfortunate that people release these snakes into the wild.
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Jeff West

Jeff,
Are you simply mentally challenged and just unable to get the point of the post? A ford Crown Vic Police interceptor’s length was not the point of the Post, but one big Python roaming wild in the Everglades was. I did not measure the car, I got the number from the Sgt who did. Maybe she did include the push bumper, who cares. The fact that you do know the exact measurement of the car would indicate that you have way too much time on your hands. The post is not misinformation and I would gladly walk you out to the swamp and show you around to see the feral wildlife, but at this point I am not all that sure that I would willing bring you dumbass back out of it
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Jim Hopkins "Hoppy"
Hopkins Holesale Herps
Hopfam1@aol.com

I never doubted any of your claims. I simply wanted it to be stated for the record that you overstated the length of the car greatly,which in turn overstated the size of the snake. This makes a horrible story seem even worse than it is, especially if a news outlet or politician gets a hold of your post. Can you not see the ramifications of that happening? So please don't insult me by emailing me and calling mentally challenged when all I have is the best interest of the hobby at heart. Why should i have the exact measurement of the car since I am not the one making the claim? You have really shown your maturity by calling me a dumbass etc. Ever heard of discussing something like a man?
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Jeff West

Good because a wild population of burms would be KOOL to observe scientifically,mortality,effect on wild life etc... Bad because the publicity of WILD giant pythons in America's backyard will KILL US.(the herp industry).I LOVE owning herps and once again a few irecesponsible herpers let they're pets loose in the wild is gonna ruin it for everybody !Don't get me wrong GIANT BURMS WILD in Florida is TOO KOOL!!!my 02cents.Thanks for the pic.

Thanks for the pic, Hoppy.

I haven't seen any research/studies - has it been proven that there is a sustainable breeding population of burms in the Everglades? If so, yet another unfortunate example of how an introduced species can thrive under the right conditions. Have to wonder what other species they might displace/destroy.

When in college I worked on a research project with David Chiszar and Hobart Smith studying the problem of Brown Tree Snakes (Boiga irregularis) on Guam. The snakes devastated the bird population there. Ironically, the research wasn't funded because of ecological concerns, but because the snakes were causing blackouts and $millions in damage to the power systems on the island. Many fear this story will be repeated in Hawaii, and some believe the Brown Tree Snake is already there.

So, can you imagine if the burms start winning out over the gators? Everglades full of burms and no gators? And what else? Despite the amusement we all feel when we wonder what we might come across next on a South Florida highway, we also need to acknowledge and understand just how destructive such situations can become. We can only hope that the Everglades doesn't become another Guam story.

Steve Reiners
BoaMorph
www.BoaMorph.com

These are Animals that are currently Feral and self sustained just in My area Lee/Collier Counties:
Burmese Pythons
Green Iguana
Mexican Spiny Tailed Iguana
Nile Monitor
Tokay Gecko
Mediterranean Gecko
House Gecko
Day Gecko (several Spps)
Brown Crested Anole
Puerto Rican Anole
Brown Bark Anole
Cuban Anole
Knights Anole
Jamaican Anole
Cuban Tree Frogs
Thread/Blind Snake
Brown Vine Snake
Copper Head Snake (not Native to South FL)
Green’s Monkeys
Spider Monkeys
Beebe parrots,
Quaker Parakeets
Budgies
Cockatiels
Spectacled Caiman
Brown Basilisk
Striped Basilisk
Oscars
Piranhas
Peacock Bass
Arawanas
Cichlids of all kinds

Others that are commonly found but not known to be a breeding population
Ball Python
Boa Constrictor
Ferrets
And several of the King snakes and Milk snakes

There are rumors that Monocled Cobras are breeding and populated in the Everglades and that rumor was supported by a find of a road killed one back in 1986 by fish and game.
The are lots of reasons given by people why and how, from all the different hurricanes, starting with Donna and Andrew to all the former US 41 road side shows that were popular back in the 60’s, 70’s, and early 80’s. Many claim that when they closed down most of the animals were released into the swamp due to lack of anything better to do with them.
I am sure that a lot of them are releases from bad keepers, escapes and importers “throwing out the bad”. I personally have seen at least 4 different importers/breeders release damaged or sickly animals into the wilds of FL thinking that the animal has a better chance, apparently they did!
It may not be the best thing for the Environment, but it does make for some fun Herping and some really odd calls at work.
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Jim Hopkins "Hoppy"
Hopkins Holesale Herps
Hopfam1@aol.com

np

Of "Foreign", Breeding population's of Reptiles,there are all kind's of Breeding populations of Gecko's & you got Green Iguana's and you got "Nile Monitor's".Now you got Breeding population's of "Burmese Python's" wait till the African Rock's & Anaconda's and other Giant Breed's of Snake's people can no longer, or care to take care of,just like people dump there Dog's & Cat's off in the Country-Side's,these same "Moron's" will dump anything ! ! You got Wild Dog's/Cat's.Wait till you start seeing the King Cobra's, Black Mamba's,Gaboon Viper's,Nile Crocodiles you name it,all these are bought and sold daily in the "Pet-Trade" in Florida to any one with the "Dollar's".Thank's for the pic.'s Hoppy ! !And to all the Herper's in Florida, out Wild Collecting "Watch where you walk" ! ! !
Have A Good One ! !
Kenneth

Good sized snake.
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Voices in the darkness... scream away my mental health. Can I.. ask a question.. to help save me from myself? Enemies fill up the pages, are they me?... Monday till Sunday in stages, set me free!!! " Diary of a Madman " Ozzy Osbourne

I would like to see the picture of the rattler. My email is tsusnakeguy@gmail.com Thanks

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