"Why no comment on the fact that some exotic pet owner probably DUMPED the snake in the first place? Why no scathing sarcasm for that responsible party?"

I, for one, don't jump to conclusions as fast as you do, Steph, especially over such a sensationalized article. For example, if you read the article carefully, you would notice that the sentence that mentioned how the Burmese Python came to be in the wild states, "You decide you don't want them anymore, you let them go.", which is just pure assumption. This statement was immediately followed by "That is what has happened in South Florida. Many pythons escaped in 1992 during Hurricane Andrew, have grown in population now estimated in the thousands.", even though it was at first assumed, as you have done here, that someone intentionally let them go. Regardless, some criticism is due whether the snake was intentionally let loose or escaped. A responsible snake keeper should not have snakes escaping or be letting them loose.

Secondly, if you read the article carefully, you would also notice that the last two sentences state, "Notchaway has grown about two feet in length since he came to Chehaw. He weighs about 60 pounds, and is fed a live rabbit every three months.", so, obviously the original story of the Burmese Python find is quite old and is being rehashed again.

I seldom consider such stories to be good journalism -- more like old (questionable) news.

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