I posted this on the comments section of there forum

What an unbelievable waste of tax payer dollars!! There is no one who knows anything about reptiles who did not know all these snakes would die. I guess the “researchers” were praying that at least one would survive in there artificial underground dens (no mention if they were artificially heated) so they could keep alive the fear mongering and milk as much research money out of it to have a long term career for as many people as could jump on the bus!! It is so obvious that there is an agenda behind all this science and news articles: “FEAR MAKES MONEY”!!!
Some of the quotes: “now well established in the Florida Everglades” no mention of the devastating effects that the Florida winter had on the population of over 80% dying (many say more) and it barely got below 30 degrees and they had all of south Florida to find refuge.
“Our results suggest that Burmese pythons from the population currently established in Florida are capable of withstanding conditions substantially cooler that those typically experienced in southern Florida” I love the term “SUGGESTS” It was not even substantially cooler in Florida this year is was only 2 or 3 degrees colder than the normal cold it just lasted for 5 days and that killed most of them so this statement is clearly inaccurate!! WHY? More research maybe?
“While all 10 snakes died over the winter, the researchers noted the severity of the 2009-2010 winter, and that further study was needed to determine what potential evolution and adaptation by the Asian snake could lead to northward population establishment”. “Further study is needed”!!!! LOL Of course it is blaming it on the colder than normal winter in South Carolina. Does it get below 30 degrees in SC for more than a week? If so then no pythons will survive there! End of debate!!
“No signs of disease or respiratory infection” NO THEY DIED BEFOR THEY WERE ABLE TO GET SICK!! You get sick after an extreme stress on your body if you die during the extreme stress… Do I really need to go on???
“The researchers concluded that the snakes may have survived a more moderate winter in South Carolina” MAY… Keep the dream alive!!!! (But they probably would have died of respiratory infection from the stress)
"If such variation in behavior is heritable, natural selection could result in a python population better adapted to cold weather," the study said. And while an imminent invasion of the snakes was feared by some” WHO?? THE GENERAL PUBLIC OR AYONE WITH ANY KNOWLEDGE ON THE SUBJECT? ” the researchers said that, if the snakes can acclimate to the cold temperatures, it could take decades for them to be established here” GOT TO THROW IN THE ADAPTION THING! DECADES?? WHAT 500 DECADES!!
"It is important to remember that, although the time frame considered for expansion of the pythons' range in the United States is typically short-term (i.e., decades), it may take much longer for the species to spread into all regions of suitable climate and habitat” Not sure I even know what they mean here but it sounds like we need more research money because they used terms like “short-term, and decades”
So here is the “REAL DEAL” Pythons are in the everglades and it is unlikely they will go much past Lake Okeechobee maybe a little farther along the coast. It is not likely they will be exterminated because there is not that much effort being done to exterminate them. There are new laws in Florida about the keeping of big pythons. No one else needs to worry in other parts of the country. They have many predators eating them in the everglade (All the fear mongers like to say “they have no natural predators” which is technically true, no predator “native” to their land are predators here. But plenty of Florida native and invasives eat them) (the cattle egret is an invasive to Florida and from all over Asia and eats them so they may even have “natural predator”)
As far as evolving to the cold, well almost all large snakes come from warm climates and the ones who move into colder climates become smaller, why? Because it is harder to get warm if they are big it is harder to find shelter from the cold if they are big and it is harder to find enough food if they are big. There are tons of rats, mice and small birds for small snakes but raccoons and possums are not as plentiful. Very few pythons of any size live in cold environments. If the big snakes could adapt to the cold they already would have in their native lands. So now they have evolve to find refuges, to the colder winters, to hibernate and get smaller. Maybe in 10,000 years there will be a descendant of Burmese python in SC but it will be only 6’ and 2” around and eating the same things that rat snakes and king snakes eat there now. And it will be being eaten by all the invasive cats, dogs and pigs that are the ones doing real damage to native wildlife.
STOP WAISTING OUR MONEY!!!!!!
You should pay me half of what all this wasted research cost now that I have given the facts and solved the questions!!!
Rob

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