Burmese Python By: Tamar Jefferson

Intro

Some college or professional basketball players may be about seven feet tall. Now imagine three, seven-
foot-tall players stacked on top of each other end-to-end, head-to-toe. These players would still be 2
feet shorter than a full-grown Burmese python! The Burmese python is one of the world’s largest
snakes, and it has come to United States from the Asian country of Myanmar (Burma). More specifically,
the Burmese python is affecting the Everglades in south Florida in various ways.

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The Burmese python has many characteristics worth mentioning. Matt Piven, author of “Burmese
Python: Not the Ideal Pet,” reports that the snake can grow up to 23 feet long and weigh up to 200
pounds. Next, Piven mentions how “chemical receptors” on the tongue and “heat sensors along the
jaw” help the snake see, especially in the dark. Also, the python’s “back-curving teeth” makes escape
nearly impossible for its prey. Since the Burmese python is not poisonous, the snake wraps its body
around the prey to suffocate it. Then the snake will swallow its prey whole, even if it’s much larger than
the snake’s head. These characteristics give the Burmese python a powerful ability to survive.

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The Burmese python is affecting the Everglades’ ecosystem in several ways. The snake eats mammals
and birds. Andrew Ng, author of “Florida’s Python Hunt,” specifies that Burmese pythons are “wiping
out huge numbers of opossums, raccoons, and bobcats, as well as many bird species.” Since this is true,
the python is disrupting the food chain. For example, if a Burmese python eats a bobcat, that bobcat will
then not be able to eat what it eats. Additionally, Ng reports that the Burmese python has “no natural
predators;” in other words, no other animal hunts the Burmese python. The Burmese python is
considered an invasive species since it is altering the ecosystem in dramatic ways.

Conclusion

As you can see the Burmese pythons do many things since they have no preators they keep growing. I
want to say thank you for reading this.