Cruising In South Florida

[DotDun]

Originally Posted by Blue Crab

.... I was a Shark River fan. Not so sure now.

Good, more room for others!

[Blue Crab]

Originally Posted by DotDun

Good, more room for others!

Yep, nutin to worry about.

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by Blue Crab

Yep, nutin to worry about.

Look at those lily pads! That's totally fresh water inland and nothing like Shark River or any tidal estuary. I'm with Anchorguy,- you won't see these in the cruiser's anchorages.

[Blue Skye]

Originally Posted by Blue Crab

Whistle walking by the graveyard guys. The python thing is here. The "hunt" which was a bust likely had a dozen or so real hunters and another bunch of macho drunken yahoos out for a day. I can find (and so can you) reports of snakes that apparently have traveled thru the water from ENP to SW Fla mainland.

That you all havn't see them doesn't amount to much IMO. It seems they can live on saltwater for awhile. 60 days for one specimen. They don't need to eat every few hours either. They climb. They are large, agile and stealthy. And way stronger than us. 17' so far I've read.

Not to put too fine a point on it: let your fingers do some walking, amigos.

Not kidding anymore. I was a Shark River fan. Not so sure now.

True story. A high school friend of mine is an alligator land manager/guide and he said the FL python hunt was a joke. I've won the lottery 3 years in a row for gator tags here, too bad it's not the powerball

[Blue Skye]

Originally Posted by Hudson Force

Look at those lily pads! That's totally fresh water inland and nothing like Shark River or any tidal estuary. I'm with Anchorguy,- you won't see these in the cruiser's anchorages.

Another true story. Invasive none the less. Cape Coral has seen a rise in monitor lizard populations, I've crossed paths with a few, very cunning and intelligent reptiles I must say. Either way, it's only one species fault for the reptile melting pot in south Florida

[DotDun]

Originally Posted by Hudson Force

Look at those lily pads! That's totally fresh water inland and nothing like Shark River or any tidal estuary. I'm with Anchorguy,- you won't see these in the cruiser's anchorages.

USGS Release: Burmese Pythons Pose Little Risk to People in Everglades (2/27/2014 2:30:00 PM)

[Blue Crab]

Ha ha ha. You guys are real positive thinkers I'll admit. The article noted above was VERY informative, a gov't employee telling us there is some risk. My lily pad pic was merely meant to show how comfy they are in water. One source I previously noted suggested the snakes could move faster in water than overland.

I'm not a scaredy cat nor a snakophobe. I've had many pet snakes at home and in the classroom, although certainly none like these big jobs we're discussing as I had 3 small kids and dogs and cats. I think the current record python in FL is 18' and 150 pounds. With 87 eggs in her belly I believe.

I've found a current estimate of 150k pythons now in the park. Le'see, say half of them are females ...ching ching ...75 thousand females with say, oh 80 eggs ...chkchkchk... = 6 MILLION eggs per generation, and exponentially more each generation.... The pythons are quite vulnerable as snakelings of course but once all the small predators are eaten (now happening at a scary rate) there will be few things left alive to harm them causing the birth rate to explode.

I've kayaked/canoed/fished/sailed/camped out in the Little Shark area. I've looked at it as prime hurricane protection but over the years as I read of these developments, tying into the mangroves for a storm has begun to creep me out a little. YMMV.

The recent issue with the more aggressive rock pythons interbreeding with the Burmese leading to a big, aggressive supersnake has me concerned.

150,000 Burmese pythons in the Everglades. Nothing to be afraid of. - The Washington Post

The above is a fun read and concludes:[My bold text]


But controlling pythons hasn’t worked. The state of Florida last year held an open hunt called the Python Challenge that only proved the snakes are extremely hard to find and even harder to eradicate.
So the good news is that the study seems accurate – people rarely see pythons. The bad news – people can’t seem to spot them even if they’re four feet away – is also accurate.
Biologists at the USGS, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission are trying to arrest the spread of pythons, which are excellent swimmers.
In fact, in at least one instance, one was spotted swimming toward the Florida Keys. They can conceivably make their way north to St. Petersburg and Tampa. And, if they adapt better to cooler temperatures, farther north to Georgia.


Don't shoot the messenger.Maybe we should all start to travel with dogs and leave them on deck at night. Snakes will get them first no doubt, perhaps saving a human life.

[HopCar]

Blue Crab, I'll worry about the pythons after they hurt someone who isn't trying to catch them. So far the only people bitten by them have been trying to hold on to them. I've never heard of one attacking a human in Florida.

Alligators don't seem to bother you, yet it seems every year one or two people are injured or killed by alligators in Florida. Heck, you are far more likely to get struck by lightening than bit by a python.

[Hudson Force]

I am aware of a two year old killed by a pet Burmese python within her Florida house a few years ago. I think this is the only event of this nature in the US and this was not in the wilderness. On average, there are more than 50 people killed in the US by bees and more than 30 killed each year by dogs. Average yearly deaths by spiders is at a slightly higher rate than poisionous snakes at about 5 or 6 per year. Of course, the pythons are not poisionous, just big.

[DotDun]

Originally Posted by Hudson Force

I am aware of a two year old killed by a pet Burmese python within her Florida house a few years ago. I think this is the only event of this nature in the US and this was not in the wilderness. On average, there are more than 50 people killed in the US by bees and more than 30 killed each year by dogs. Average yearly deaths by spiders is at a slightly higher rate than poisionous snakes at about 5 or 6 per year. Of course, the pythons are not poisionous, just big.

Correct! The only human deaths by python reported in the US were all in captivity (pet owners). None have been reported in the wild.

[a64pilot]

Actually more are killed by these big snakes than you might think, just from memory I thing a 19 yr old was killed in NY several years ago by his own snake and I think two children in Canada when a snake escaped from a pet store they lived over, it got in their room and killed both of them.
Admittedly your far more likely to be killed by lightning, but a snake that big gives me the fits, if I see one, were leaving

[DotDun]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Actually more are killed by these big snakes than you might think, just from memory I thing a 19 yr old was killed in NY several years ago by his own snake and I think two children in Canada when a snake escaped from a pet store they lived over, it got in their room and killed both of them.
Admittedly your far more likely to be killed by lightning, but a snake that big gives me the fits, if I see one, were leaving

So the conclusion is don't keep pythons in cage, it pisses 'em off.

But, they seem to share the wild with humans....

[Blue Crab]

Originally Posted by HopCar

Blue Crab, I'll worry about the pythons after they hurt someone who isn't trying to catch them. So far the only people bitten by them have been trying to hold on to them. I've never heard of one attacking a human in Florida.

Alligators don't seem to bother you, yet it seems every year one or two people are injured or killed by alligators in Florida. Heck, you are far more likely to get struck by lightening than bit by a python.

I hear you Hop, and agree with you. And I'm concerned with gators too. Last time I cut across the O WAterway, I anchored in one of those little lakes or ponds for the night and was ready to dive in for a wash up when what I'd call barking started up. They weren't dogs tho. I showered in the cockpit. Maybe they were frogs but I didn't risk it.


The thing is, the snake threat is new and several magnitudes greater than than the gators/crocs/bees/lightning strike risks we've taken all along. As salt crocs go, I think they are relatively very few. Many more gators no doubt but millions? I doubt it. They're getting pushed around like everything else.


The pythons will likely number in the millions in the next decade. They are decimating the live animals already, and I think the Park Service has no clue what to do next. The four or five human bites I've seen reported were biologists who didn't see the pythons 'til they were hit. Dot Dun hasn't seen any? What are the chances he would if the scientists standing in the sawgrass four feet away didn't?


On that note, I looked up the spot Dot Dun hauled out or whatever that he mentioned where he didn't see any pythons. I have been very near there way before the facility was there. I suspect there are more than just a few in those parts. That is snake country.


As I admitted previously, my remarks initially were jokingly intended to keep the snowbirds out of my favorite area. Now, I'm not so sure. I'd be real happy to be wrong about this. I'm sure you boys are a lot smarter than me, but I'm not wrong very often. Jes sayin.

[Blue Crab]

It just gets better. I was just reading a 2 year old story in the Miami Herald about some Nile crocs that have escaped from SFL breeders, probably illegal imports anyway. There is a shoot to kill order out for them as our American crocs are relatively docile but the Nile ones are aggressive, and bigger, and kill some 2500 Africans yearly.

Govt sources don't think they will breed with the local yokels. Famous last words? The govt knows best, right?


Maybe these Carolina winters aren't so bad after all.


There are currently an est 1.3 million gators in Fl. Good deal. I'd say that gives them a fighting chance against the pythons.

[J Clark H356]

I've been to Indian Key twice and a friend of mine goes there pretty often. He single hands and stays in Russell Bay. He bathes in the water and although we didn't see any pythons in the water there last February, I was certainly thinking about them being there. I have cautioned him not to bathe as he has in the past. I don't know if they are there or not, but I will assume they are to be prudent.


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