Beagle training to root out pythons from Everglades

EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK, Fla. -- Visitors to the Everglades expect or even hope to encounter some scary swamp creatures.

But the 20-foot snake draped across a two-lane road?

That's a postcard moment wildlife officials want to erase.

The Burmese pythons increasingly spotted by tourists do not belong in the Everglades. But the Asian reptiles are multiplying here in troubling numbers, competing with native, endangered species for food and crossing the paths of startled tourists.

Now the killer snakes might have finally met their match: a beagle puppy aptly named "Python Pete," who's being trained to sniff out the creatures so they can be captured and killed.

The 9-month-old puppy charges through waist-high grass during his training sessions, his nose leading him on a twisting snake trail that wildlife biologist Skip Snow sets for him.

Snow drags a six-foot python in a mesh bag to leave the scented path. The puppy knows he'll find more than a brown-spotted snake at the end of the path. His true motivation: a small stuffed animal with hot-pink feet and floppy ears.

"He just loves doing it. It's a big game for him," said owner and wildlife technician Lori Oberhofer, as she plays a tug-of-war game with Pete, who has the toy clenched firmly in his teeth.

To make sure Pete does not become a snack for a big snake or alligator, Oberhofer keeps him on a short red leash during training sessions and says he will never roam free in the wilderness.

Burmese pythons are not poisonous. But their size makes them a threatening presence in the Everglades and they have no predators. Tourists have seen the reptiles attacked by large alligators only to escape.

"They do have a nasty bite and they clearly do have the tools to injure if not kill someone," Snow said. He added that the larger reptiles seen stretched across roads could cause a traffic accident. Some tourists have gotten out of their cars to move what they thought was a large branch from the road, only to be alarmed when a huge snake slithers away.

The unruly size of the Burmese Python is one reason wildlife officials believe pet owners dump them in South Florida's vast swamplands.

The snakes are a popular pet, especially as hatchlings that can curl harmlessly around an owner's wrist.

But when they grow to 20 feet or more with jaws that can overtake a basketball, Burmese Pythons become challenging to house and feed. More than 50 were removed from the park from the mid-1990s to 2003.

That number jumped to 61 in 2004 alone. And in January, park officials took out 15 Burmese Pythons, the equivalent of a snake every other day.

A skinny, two-foot snake curled around Oberhofer's arm on a recent morning reveals why the numbers are multiplying.

Known as "Burmese Bob," the snake was recently discovered as a new hatchling, proving that the species is breeding with remarkable success. Necropsies on snakes that are captured and euthanized show they also are thriving on a steady diet of rabbits, rats, squirrels as well as the storks and other birds that draw so many tourists.

The smaller Eastern Indigo snake, which is listed as a threatened species, depends on that same food supply in the Everglades. Other nonnative birds, exotic fish and plants threaten to wipe out part of the natural stock of animals and wilderness.

Wildlife officials want to focus on the Burmese Pythons because their numbers still are relatively small and they believe eradication is possible.

Python Pete won't be the only one working to rid the Everglades of the snakes. Park officials are aiming a new educational campaign at pet stores and importers with the slogan, "Don't let it loose."

"We want pet owners to realize if they take on the responsibility of a pet, they should keep that pet for life," Snow said. He encouraged those who cannot keep a pet to find someone to adopt it or return it to the store.

At the park, visitors who spot a Burmese Python can call a "python hot line" to describe where they last saw it. From there, Pete will pick up the trail.

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On the Net:

Everglades National Park: http://www.nps.gov/ever/

End ADV for March 19-20