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LIVE SCIENCE (New York, NY) 10 October 05 Python Eats Pet Cat in Florida
Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP): Maybe this Burmese python learned a lesson from the one that tried to eat an alligator but exploded because its prey was so big. This snake apparently took on an animal that never stood a chance -- Frances, a 1-year-old Siamese cat.
Frances vanished last week from his owner's home, but his whereabouts were possibly revealed Sunday. A snake expert says Frances is the bulge inside the 12-foot-long Burmese python.
"Poor baby. He was my favorite cat. I know Siamese (cats) are supposed to be distant, but he slept in my bed and everything,'' said a distraught Elidia Rodriguez, the cat's owner.
The snake was captured and taken to a nature preserve, where it will live in a glass cage.
Earlier this month, a 13-foot python had a run-in with a 6-foot American alligator in Everglades National Park, and neither animal survived. The python blew up as it tried to swallow that alligator.
Capt. Al Cruz of the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue antivenin unit said Sunday's case can likely be blamed on the recent rains.
The snakes "are looking for dry land,'' he said.
Many pythons, which are native to Asia and not Florida, end up in the wild after being abandoned by their owners once they grow too big to handle.
No one saw how Frances, named after one of last year's hurricanes, apparently ended up in the python's grip. Rodriguez learned of the monster snake lurking just five feet from the backyard by chance on Sunday.
A man whose stolen car was abandoned in the woods behind Rodriguez's home came by to look for his wallet in the vehicle. He found the snake instead and ran over to Rodriguez, who called 911.
It took about 10 minutes for Cruz and two other rescue workers to trap the brown-and-black snake in a king-size pillowcase.
"He was very aggressive,'' Cruz said. "He didn't want to be bothered.''
Python Eats Pet Cat in Florida

SUN-SENTINEL (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) 10 October 05 Loose python devours 18-pound Siamese cat near Miami-Dade home (Alva James-Johnson)
It had only been two days since Elidia Rodríguez had seen her Siamese cat, Francis. So when a Burmese python showed up Sunday in a wooded area behind her house in northwest Miami-Dade, the 66-year-old woman thought nothing of it.
That was until her son, Andres, noticed a peculiar bulge in the python's belly.
"I'm sure there's a cat in there," he said later.
It's the latest python incident in South Florida, where exotic snakes are proliferating and swallowing pets and other creatures whole. A 13-foot python recently gulped down a 6-foot alligator until its stomach ruptured, alarming public officials and citizens. And for residents like Rodríguez, Sunday's incident heightened concern.
On Sunday morning, Rodríguez was walking her dogs when she encountered the snake, which was 10 to 12 feet long, her son said.
He said his mother called him to the scene because he had caught snakes on the property before. He said he was trying to capture it when he noticed the bulge. That's when he decided to call 911. The Miami-Dade Fire Rescue anti-venom unit arrived and bagged the python about 11 a.m.
"It was a pretty good size animal, and it wasn't friendly, either," said Capt. Al Cruz.
He said when he tried to grab the python, it tried several times to bite him. He said the snake had several rows of about 100 teeth and could have inflicted a significant wound.
"I figured it hasn't been a pet snake for some time now, especially with the temperament that it had," he said
Cruz said the bulge in the python's stomach was about 15 to 16 inches, and he suspected it was the 18-pound cat.
"It was a full-size pet," he said. "I even felt the legs in the stomach."
He said the python was taken to A.D. Barnes Park in Miami, where it is on exhibit.
Andres Rodríguez said the cat was about a year old, and his mother had received it from a friend. When he told her that he thought the python had eaten her pet, he said, her eyes welled with tears.
He was still trying to decide how to break the news to his 6-year-old daughter, Nicole, who lives in Tampa. He said she had become close to the animal,and would be heartbroken.
Cruz said the anti-venom unit sees about three to four pythons a year roaming the streets of Miami-Dade County. He said they could be found from Miami Beach to Cutler Ridge.
"They are pets that people have that get away, or people release them," he said. He said a reptile 10 to 12 feet long can kill an adult or child through strangulation, but most won't unless they're confronted.
"The big problem is probably with small pets," he said.
Rodríguez said he caught a python behind the house five years ago and kept it in a cage, but it eventually died. He said the family has other pets, and he fears a python could strike again. "These things, I think, should be completely outlawed," he said.
Loose python devours 18-pound Siamese cat near Miami-Dade home

MIAMI HERALD (Florida) 11 October 05 Gut-wrenching X-ray: Snake likely swallowed cat - A cat that disappeared two days ago from its Miami Gardens neighborhood was likely killed by a giant python, X-rays showed. (Luisa Yanez)
Evidence piled up Monday against a 12-foot Burmese python suspected of eating a beloved house cat: An X-ray revealed the bulge in the snake's gut is a small mammal, likely a feline.
''I'm 90 percent sure it's a cat -- a very large cat,'' said William Chavez, a veterinarian at the Bird and Exotic Wildlife Hospital near Dadeland Mall.
The python, now living in a Miami-Dade County park, was brought to Chavez's office for a closer look at the bulge in its belly.
''We could see inside the snake the skeletal remains of a large mammal that had retractable claws -- that's probably a cat,'' Chavez said, ruling out that it could be a possum or a raccoon.
The likely victim is a year-old, 15-pound male Siamese named after Hurricane Frances. The cat vanished over the weekend from his Miami Gardens home, just feet from where the slithering, bulging python was found Sunday.
Elidia Rodriguez, Frances' owner, called 911 to report the snake.
Capt. Al Cruz, head of the Miami-Dade fire-rescue antivenin unit, who helped remove the python, put two and two together about Rodriguez's missing cat and the snake's bulge.
''I feel so bad,'' said Rodriguez, who held out hope until Monday that a hungry Frances would walk through the door.
``He's gone. He would have come home by now if he could.''
Chavez said the X-ray also indicates the snake will take up to a month to digest its last meal.
``He won't eat again for a while.''
How Frances ended up in the python's death grip is a sad tale. An outdoor cat, he likely strolled near the python's strike zone or was attracted by its movement.
The python was found about five feet from the chain-link fence that separates Rodriguez's house in the 20900 block of Northwest 39th Avenue from a wooded area.
''Cats are usually very cautious, but the python got him,'' Chavez said.
The python has become a sort of celebrity reptile at A.D. Barnes Park at 3401 SW 72nd Ave., where it will live along with other reptiles in the park's Sense of Wonder Nature Center and Trail.
''He's getting a lot of attention,'' Cruz said. ``A few people have come to the park just to see him.''
The python has been given a name fitting its new status:
''We're calling him Hollywood,'' Cruz said.
Rodriguez was taken aback to learn that her cat's tragic end is on display for the public. But she's glad the python is out of her neighborhood.
'I keep thinking, `Could there be another snake back there in those woods?' '' Rodriguez said.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/12869744.htm

MIAMI HERALD (Florida) 11 October 05 Opinion: Who owned the python that may have eaten Frances?
Re the Oct. 10 article 12-foot python captured: I think it's bad reporting to show Frances as the python's last meal. The question is who owned this snake and let it go?
That irresponsible person should pay for a new cat and the time spent by the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue people trying to catch the reptile.
Bernardo Gutierrez, Miami
The article tells the story of how a male cat named Frances was swallowed by a 12-foot python. This is either a silly naming convention on the part of the cat's owners or sloppy writing not picked up by The Herald's editors.
Frances is a female spelling of the male name Francis. In either case, the failure of the writer to point out exactly what is up with this cat's name leads to an article that informs but does not edify.
My condolences to the owners whose pet was eaten by a snake that has no business in Florida.
Weldon Morgan, Miami
Editor's note: The Rodríguez family named its male cat after Hurricane Frances.
Gut-wrenching X-ray: Snake likely swallowed cat