Giant constrictor snakes in Florida: A sizeable research challenge

Product Type: Science Feature

Year: 2009

Author(s): Wilson, J., R. Reed, and G. Rodda

Suggested Citation:
Wilson, J., R. Reed, and G. Rodda. 2009. Giant constrictor snakes in Florida: A sizeable research challenge. http://www.fort.usgs.gov/FLConstrictors/.

Abstract

Since the mid-1990s, several species of non-native, giant constrictor snakes, such as Burmese pythons and boa constrictors, have surfaced in localities throughout southern Florida. Several are known or suspected to be breeding and appear to be spreading northward. Increasingly, media and other reports of sightings or encounters with these animals have emphasized the dangers they could impose on native species, ecosystems, pets, and people. The USGS Fort Collins Science Center (FORT), government resource management agencies, the University of Florida, Davidson College (NC), and The Nature Conservancy have been collaborating on research and intervention methods to cope with an urgent need to understand and control these large, widespread predators. FORT scientists are intimately familiar with snake invasion research and prevention. For more than 20 years, they have been involved with the invasive brown treesnake (Boiga irregularis) on the island of Guam...