Researchers at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida discovered a dead Burmese python about 15 miles into the Everglades and concluded that native wildlife in the swamp is beginning to prey on the invasive species.

The Burmese python, which can weigh close to 200 pounds and reach over 20 feet long, has no natural predators in Florida. The snakes have severely reduced populations of raccoons, opossums, bobcats, and marsh rabbits in the region. They also consume white-tailed deer, alligators, and dozens of bird species.

In 2021, biologist Bartoszek and his team were tracking juvenile Burmese pythons with surgically implanted radio transmitters. Over time, several of the tracked snakes disappeared, although their transmitters continued to send signals. The team located the transmitters but found no remains of the pythons. X-rays of recovered transmitters showed the python spines intact inside the stomach of an unknown animal, indicating something had swallowed the snakes whole.

A separate incident involved a 13-foot python found dead with its neck crushed, its body hidden under brush. The identity of the predator remained unclear, as the kills did not match the patterns associated with alligators, Florida panthers, or black bears.

Cameras placed at the sites where pythons had disappeared eventually captured footage of a Florida cottonmouth consuming a juvenile python. The cottonmouth, a native venomous pit viper measuring roughly 2.5 to 4 feet long, struck the python, held it, and swallowed it whole. The cottonmouth hunts using infrared-sensitive pit organs between its eyes and nostrils, which detect body heat, allowing it to locate prey in darkness. The venom incapacitates the python shortly after the bite, and snakes have long been part of the cottonmouth’s natural diet.

The recordings also showed other native species preying on pythons. Alligators killed several monitored pythons, including one attacker that was 9 feet long. A trail camera captured a bobcat raiding a python nest while driving back the guarding female. Owls, hawks, black bears, and panthers were also filmed taking juvenile pythons.

Despite these findings, the researchers note that native predation has not meaningfully reduced the overall python population. A single female python can lay between 12 and 36 eggs per clutch, and the snakes mature quickly and live for decades. Human removal efforts, including hunting programs, have taken more than 5,000 pythons since the projects began, but the population remains large, with estimates ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands.

The native predators observed attacking pythons are acting on instinct rather than coordinated response. The cameras provide evidence that natural resistance to the invasion is occurring, although whether it will keep pace with python reproduction remains to be determined.