Watch out for pythons...

[Bobbie Mayer]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-0...m?se=yahoorefer

If you are traveling in the lower third of the US, you might run into a 20 foot long Burmese python, released into the wild when it got too big to be a good pet. The USGS is surveying habitat that might be suitable for these snakes, as it is clear they are moving north from Florida, where they are well-entrenched. They definitely know of some released in Arkansas.

Bobbie

[Bob H]

Quoting the last line in the USA Todeay article..."If you see one, don't attempt to engage it. Leave the area, note the location and notify the authorities."

Ummm...if I see one in my back yard, I'm calling my hunting buddies, telling them to each bring their Turkey Cookers with a whole bunch of Cornbread Flour and Ol'Bay seasoning...we're having a HUGE cook-out!

[Bobbie Mayer]

Quoting the last line in the USA Todeay article..."If you see one, don't attempt to engage it. Leave the area, note the location and notify the authorities."

Ummm...if I see one in my back yard, I'm calling my hunting buddies, telling them to each bring their Turkey Cookers with a whole bunch of Cornbread Flour and Ol'Bay seasoning...we're having a HUGE cook-out!

A 20 foot python, cut into 1 foot sections- do you have 20 buddies with turkey cookers?

[Bob H]

A 20 foot python, cut into 1 foot sections- do you have 20 buddies with turkey cookers?

YES! I got one friend that has five! We do Oyster Roasts, Fish Frys, Clam Bakes, Shrimp Boils...sometimes all at once. And I can tell you...snake tastes like chicken...in this case, a BIG chicken.

A campfire, a sheet of plywood on two saw-horses for a table, a cooler of Beer & Ice, and a mess of somethin' to cook, is my way to party.

[Gina D.]

If you see one, don't attempt to engage it.

I was engaged to a snake once......

[Pete Dumbleton]

Having eaten more than one snake, I highly recommend big ones! They all have bones and on the little ones they are very close together and hard to eat.

[Donna D.]

I was engaged to a snake once......

I married one.

[Anne H]

A couple of years ago, I was having a picnic at a local park (with a big lake) and was approached by a really big snake!! It was clearly someone's released pet with no fear of people.

I felt bad about leaving it there - but being very snake-aphobic, I beat a hasty retreat and told a ranger. He said that they were finding more and more big snakes - in the NW they don't last long enough to really take hold - because of the cold.

Another time at a rest stop up here, I saw a guy cleaning a big snake (clearly not a native snake) with grilling definitely on his mind - probably another hapless abandoned pet.

I'm a bit more careful walking in tall grass now

[Bill MacDermod]

I have never seen one of the pythons that are in Florida although I have read the same articles. Personally i can't understand why they are allowed as pets because of the trouble they can be when released

[Pete Dumbleton]

The same sort of thing happens with cats and dogs; some Florida state parks still don't allow pets because they escape. Snakes and other exotics get more press because they are exotic.

I remember in the '60s, Rhode Island was having problems with roaming packs of feral dogs.

Feral Dogs in the West

[Lizbeth]

Speaking of feral dogs there are several packs of them in downtown L.A. We know a guy who traps them and has a kennel full of them. If the female has or is going to have puppies he socializes the pups and they are put up for adoption. Life in the big city.

[Lainey]

I was engaged to a snake once......

Here, here. Well 3 different snakes actually.
...wait, maybe they were feral dogs