Speaking of snakes eating people, here's a freaky thing going on in the Florida Everglades. People buy baby Burmese pythons illegally as pets, and then have to get rid of them when they get to be too much to deal with. A few have been released in the Everglades and their population is estimated to be 400. The only predator for the pythons is alligators, so what will happen over time if their numbers increase?
Florida is riddled with exotic species. There are whole colonies of African, South American, and Asian monkeys; caimans, boa constrictors, and deadly snakes like boomslangs, mambas, cobras, and others. Iguanas and parrots of all kinds are everywhere. Sugar gliders are all over Miami to say nothing of non-native fire ants.
Florida is the biggest mixing pot of exotic species in the world. Horrendous mismanagement of exotic species on the part of pet owners and a lack of concern on the part of the EPA and the state government has created environmental chaos where species from all over the world are now living together frequently displacing and endangering native species who have never had to compete against these exotics. It's much like a zoo where all the animals have been released from their cages at once.
There's no way to put the genie back in the bottle either. All we can do is try to save the various threatened native species until we someday find a way to effectively rid Florida of these invasive exotic species. Be aware that many will not stay in Florida either. Some species are more cold-tolerant than others and will be able to spread through the South and possibly other places as well. Macaques native to Japan, a popular pet, are quite happy living in snowy areas. Monkeys in Atlanta? Possible! Even Brooklyn, NY now has a steady and thriving population of
Quaker parrots perfectly capable of surviving northeast winters. Do you know what a flock of parrots can do to a citrus grove?
Exotic species are cool and fascinating to own but not so much when they become escapees due to neglect or indifference. They displace native species and upset the ecosystem, sometimes with disastrous consequences as the zebra mussel, Chinese snake head, and lamprey have done to the Great Lakes and waters near them. It's a mess.
It's not just animals either. Invasive plants like purple loosestrife have made the familiar cattail endangered,
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was written about one of the most invasive trees in the world, the Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus). And anyone south of the Mason Dixon knows about, "the vine that ate the South," the choking kudzu.