Get The Snake That's Eating Florida Quiz Answer Key

Captured snakes are euthanized.

Opacity. A video went viral on social media showing a 5-foot alligator being pulled from the stomach of an 18-foot Burmese python found in the Florida Everglades. Rosie Moore, a Florida-based geoscientist, took the video and shared it on TikTok and Instagram.

ing to the conservancy, the nearly 18-foot python weighed in at 215 pounds, shattering the 2016 record of 140 pounds. The female python was also pregnant and carrying 122 eggs. Ian Bartoszek, an environmental science project manager, along with biologist Ian Easterling and intern Kyle Findley made the find.

A generalist predator, the cottonmouth feeds on a variety of small mammals, birds, amphibians, fish, small turtles and small alligators. It is also known for eating snakes, with scientists documenting 27 snake species consumed by this venomous snake. It is also known to eat its own kind.

“The Snake That's Eating Florida” describes Florida's problem with an invasive species of python. “Sheepdogs to the Rescue” offers another look at the harm invasive species can do and explains how one invasive species problem was solved.

The Burmese python is a large nonvenomous constrictor that is an invasive species in Florida. Burmese pythons are found primarily in and around the Everglades ecosystem in south Florida where the snake represents a threat to native wildlife. The FWC works with partners to manage Burmese pythons in a variety of ways.

The first Burmese python found in the Everglades in 1979 was likely a former pet released or escaped into the wild. Today, after years of breeding, tens of thousands of the snakes inhabit the mainland around Everglades National Park, feasting on rare and endangered species.