Record Size Burmese Python Killed in Florida

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission photo

Burmese pythons in Florida are going to keep growing and becoming more widespread, as a Miami man confirmed earlier this month. The same story already is playing out with other exotics, as we pay the price for government’s failure to regulate and restrict the import of potentially dangerous and damaging fish, wildlife, and plant species.

Only in the case of Burmese pythons, there’s an increasing risk to human life.

You doubt that?

General wisdom has it that these snakes grow to 17 or 18 feet and can weigh 200 pounds or more. But here’s the thing: These snakes are established in new territory, with none of the variables (climate, disease, predators, etc.) that naturally would inhibit growth and expansion in their native range.

That’s already being shown with silver and bighead carp, as they spread and crowd out native fisheries with their massive numbers. It’s evident with the snakehead. Just a year ago, one of world-record proportions was pulled from the Potomac River.

The python that Jason Leon killed in a rural area of southeast Miami-Dade County measured 18 feet, 8 inches long and weighed 128 pounds, a record for Florida.  That’s already large enough to kill and consume a child or dog.

And these invaders are going to keep growing . . . and spreading . . .

Here’s a report from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Aquarium Trade Is Source for 1/3 of 'World's Worst Aquatic and Invasive Species'

Bullseye snakehead captured by Florida bioloigsts. FWC photo.

Snakehead, Oscar, Jack Dempsey, Burmese python, iguana, hydrilla, Eurasian watermilfoil.

We have the exotic pet industry and its irresponsible customers to thank for all these troublesome species, as well as many more.

But don’t take my word for it.

"Globally, the aquarium trade has contributed a third of the world's worst aquatic and invasive species," said Sue Williams, an evolution and ecology professor at the University of California, Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory.

Williams also is the lead author of a recent report about the aquarium business in California. Go here to see some of the disturbing evidence.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Herpetoculture Alliance opposes proposed federal legislation --- H.R. 996, Invasive Fish and Wildlife Prevention act---  that would put controls on the industry and better protect our lands, waters, and native species.

Here are a couple of random examples of what the pet industry has done to our waters:

On Lake Tahoe, researchers looking for invasives scooped up a 4.2-pound goldfish in their trawls.

"During these surveys, we've found a nice corner where there's about 15 other goldfish," environmental scientist Sudeep Chandra of the University of Nevada, Reno, told LiveScience. "It's an indication that they were schooling and spawning."

And in Florida, biologists netted a 14-pound, 3-ounce bullseye snakehead while conducting an electrofishing survey. Had the fish been caught on hook and line, it would have been a world record. 

In reporting on that catch, the Miami Herald says this:

“Gestring said the FWC also considers the bullseye snakehead permanently established in Northwest Broward. Scientists expect they will eventually escape into the Everglades but believe the warm-water species probably wouldn’t survive north of Orlando.

“In the Northwest Broward canal system, they don’t appear to have wreaked ecological havoc, Gestring said. After a decade, there is no sign they’re doing any more damage than 22 other foreign fish that also have settled in Florida’s freshwater canals and lakes.”

Snakeheads Increasingly Popular Among Potomac Anglers

Guide Steve Chaconas helps anglers catch snakeheads in the Potomac River.

In the wake of Juan Duran’s recent catch of a potential world record northern snakehead, here’s an interesting article about the exotic species’ increasing popularity among anglers and how it is co-existing with other species in the Potomac River.

An excerpt:

Steve Chaconas, a bass guide on the Potomac, says he’s seeing more and more people like Duran, who appreciate the snakehead as a game fish worthy of pursuit. Of the 100 to 150 guide trips he makes in a year, 20 or so are now booked by anglers who want to target snakeheads exclusively. 

“They are usually bass fishermen who want a bigger jolt,” Chaconas says. “Bass are no longer exciting for them. Snakeheads are a very powerful fish, and when you hook them they try to back away from you. Catching one is like pulling a dog off a fire hydrant.” 

Warning: Lots of photos illustrate this piece, which is nice, but you have to click 15 times to read the entire story. Too much unnecessary complication for my tastes.

Snakehead Terror a Reality?

Northern snakehead of world-record proportions. Family photo via Washington Post.

Those sci-fi movies depicting snakehead fish of man-eating proportions might not be so far-fetched after all.

Juan Duran recently caught a northern snakehead weighing 18 pounds, 4 ounces in the Occoquan River, a tributary of the Potomac. Current world record for that species is 17-4.

Virginia biologist John Odenkirk says the Potomac system now is home to a healthy population of the exotic predatory fish.

"The numbers of fish out there seem to be increasing, although it was flat last year for the first time since I've been doing surveys and since 2004. So we're not sure if that was an anomaly," he adds.

Meanwhile, Canadians are fearful of snakeheads becoming established in their waters. A man in Burnaby, British Columbia, says that he recently videotaped a snakehead in a park pond as he and his son were feeding fish.

“At first I didn’t know what it was, and as I zoomed in I realized it was a snakehead,” says the man.

“Of all the invasive species I might be worried about for B.C., the snakehead would make the top 10 list,” says Matthias Herborg, an aquatic invasive species expert with the provincial Ministry of Environment.

Report Invasive Species Through USGS Hotline

northern snakehead

Help minimize the damage done to our fisheries by Asian carp, snakeheads, zebra mussels and other aquatic invasive species.

If you see an invader, report it to the Aquatic Invasive Species Hotline. The toll-free number for this voluntary reporting system maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is 877-786-7267 (877-STOP-ANS).

Or you can go here to find a contact for your state.

Not sure that you can recognize an invader when you see one?

USGS provides photos and fact sheets at this site.

Incredibly, in the fishes listing, USGS documents 715 marine and freshwater species. Some are exotics; others are native to the United States, but have been introduced outside their natural ranges.