Python-Gator Explosion

Move along, move along now. There is nothing to see here folks...unless you have never seen a 13-foot Burmese python burst after it apparently tried to swallow a live, 6-foot alligator whole! What, you've never seen that before? Then you live a sheltered life and must get out more. Ever eat too much food and feel as if your guts are going to explode? Well take this as a warning because here is proof that overeating can lead to deadly results. If you have a weak stomach like this python did, then you may want to look away from the photo posted below. Although if you are like me, you will want to click on it and make the image even bigger so you can suck in all the gruesome details. You will see the carcass of the alligator protruding out to the right from the curved body of the dead Burmese python. It's too bad we can't also smell the rotting flesh - mmm, yummy!

Alligators have some foreign competition at the top of the Everglades food chain and the results of the struggle are horror-movie messy. The incident has heightened biologists' fears that the non-native snakes could threaten a host of other animal species in the Everglades. It means nothing in the Everglades is safe from pythons, a fierce predator. Over the years, many pythons have been abandoned in the Everglades by pet owners. The gory evidence of the latest python-gator encounter, the 4th documented in the past 3 years, was discovered and photographed last week by a helicopter pilot and wildlife researcher. The snake was found with the gator's hindquarters protruding from its midsection. It is said the alligator may have clawed at the python's stomach as the snake tried to digest it. It looks like a classic murder-suicide to me.

In previous incidents, the alligator won or the battle was an apparent draw. There had been some hope that alligators can control Burmese pythons, but this indicates to me it's going to be an even draw. Sometimes alligators are going to win and sometimes the python will win. It is unknown how many pythons are competing with the thousands of alligators in the Everglades, but at least 150 have been captured in the past 2 years. A 10 or 20-foot python also could pose a risk to an unwary human, especially a child. However, biologists don't think this is an imminent threat. So for now it's only pythons and gators that should "be afraid, be very afraid". I'm chalking this fight up as 1-0 python. Rematch anyone? Place your bets now.