For more than two decades, Burmese pythons have established themselves across the Florida Everglades. These large, nonnative snakes have spread through the wetlands, consuming local wildlife and contributing to sharp declines in several mammal populations. Scientists have documented the damage while searching for ways to slow the invasion.
Recent camera footage from the Everglades has recorded something new. Native predators, including bobcats, alligators, and even other snakes, have begun attacking python nests and, in some cases, killing adult pythons. Researchers describe these events as early signs that the local ecosystem is beginning to respond to the presence of an invasive species.
The Burmese python is native to the wetlands of Southeast Asia. It is among the largest snake species in the world. In Florida, captured pythons typically measure 6 to 9 feet, though the largest recorded in the state reached about 18 feet. The snakes are constrictors, subduing prey by coiling around it.
The pythons arrived in Florida primarily through the exotic pet trade. Imported in large numbers, they were sold as small, manageable pets. As they grew, some owners released them into the wild. Others escaped, including during storms that damaged breeding facilities. Southern Florida offered a warm, wet environment similar to their native range, with abundant food and few natural threats.
Female Burmese pythons can lay 50 or more eggs at a time, sometimes approaching 100. With no established predators and a reliable food supply, the population grew rapidly. Estimates of the current population range in the tens of thousands or higher.
The effect on native wildlife has been severe. A 2012 study by the U.S. Geological Survey compared wildlife surveys before and after the pythons became established. In areas where pythons settled, sightings of raccoons and opossums declined by roughly 99 percent. Bobcat sightings fell by about 87 percent. Marsh rabbits, cottontail rabbits, and foxes largely disappeared from the surveys. The study documented the collapse of a local mammal community within the python’s range.
Pythons in Florida have been recorded consuming a wide range of prey, including small mammals, birds, reptiles, and animals as large as deer. They have also been documented feeding on alligators.
In its native range, the Burmese python faces predators, competitors, and parasites that keep its population in check. In Florida, those natural controls do not exist. Adult pythons in the Everglades have few predators large or bold enough to challenge them. Their coloring provides effective camouflage, and they can go for extended periods between meals. These traits made the python a particularly effective invasive predator.
In the summer of 2021, researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey placed cameras near a python nest in the Big Cypress National Preserve, part of the greater Everglades ecosystem. A female python of about 14 feet was guarding her eggs. The cameras recorded a bobcat approaching the nest while the female was away. The bobcat ate python eggs and returned to the site repeatedly over several weeks. The researchers described this as the first documented case of a native animal preying on python eggs in Florida.
The recordings also captured a confrontation after the female python returned to her nest. The bobcat attacked the snake with its claws. Researchers identified this as the first recorded aggressive interaction between a bobcat and a python in the Everglades.
In 2025, researchers documented a bobcat killing a large adult python. The python measured about 13 feet. It was the first recorded instance of a bobcat killing a python of that size. Ian Bartoszek, a wildlife biologist with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida who has worked on python control for years, described the development as evidence of the ecosystem beginning to resist. He noted that native predators are recognizing pythons as a food source and learning to exploit the snakes’ weaknesses.
The relationship between bobcats and pythons is not one-sided. Biologists conducting necropsies on captured pythons have found bobcat remains inside the snakes. The two predators compete, and each is capable of killing the other. Researchers describe the dynamic as mutual predation between predators.
Other native species have also been recorded attacking pythons. In late 2023, an amateur photographer recorded an alligator in Everglades National Park carrying a large python in its jaws. Similar sightings have continued.
In another case, researchers implanted a tracking device in a young female python as part of a study. The signal later led them to a native cottonmouth snake. An X-ray at Zoo Miami showed that the cottonmouth had consumed the python, including the transmitter. The zoo highlighted the case as another example of native resistance.
Florida black bears have also been documented attacking adult female pythons. Biologists have noted other predators, including birds of prey such as eagles, targeting smaller pythons and hatchlings. Bobcats, alligators, cottonmouths, bears, and eagles now make up a group of native species that appear to view pythons as potential food.
The behavior aligns with a concept ecologists call prey switching, in which a predator adds a new food source in response to changing conditions. A python nest full of eggs represents a concentrated source of nutrition for a predator willing to exploit it. A vulnerable python, whether smaller, trapped, or occupied with guarding a nest, can become an opportunity.
The process has been slow. It took roughly two decades for these behaviors to appear. Researchers are still studying whether these predation patterns will spread widely enough to affect the python population meaningfully.
Human efforts to control the pythons remain extensive. Florida wildlife agencies, researchers, and contracted hunters work to remove pythons from the wild. In many state-managed lands in South Florida, pythons can be captured and euthanized year-round without a permit or hunting license.
Removal numbers are significant. Bartoszek’s team reported removing about 6,500 pounds of pythons since late 2024. But direct removal alone has limits against a species that is difficult to find in a vast wetland.
Scientists have developed a more targeted method using male pythons as detectors. Researchers capture male pythons, implant radio transmitters, and release them back into the wild. During mating season, the males search for females. Following the males’ signals leads researchers to large reproductive females, which they remove before the females lay eggs. Removing a single large female can prevent the birth of dozens of offspring.
The state also runs an annual python removal competition that draws hundreds of participants from across the country. The event offers prizes for the most snakes caught and the longest snake caught, turning part of the control effort into a public campaign.
Despite these combined efforts, the pythons remain firmly established throughout South Florida. Researchers describe the current situation as one of resistance rather than victory. The documented cases of native predators killing pythons remain isolated events, not yet a force capable of reversing the invasion on a population-wide scale.
Scientists are cautious about the long-term outlook. They do not yet know whether these predation behaviors will spread quickly enough to make a measurable difference in python numbers. The pythons may also continue expanding their range northward.
What the camera footage shows is a native ecosystem beginning to respond to an invasive species after years of documented decline. The response is neither fast nor complete. But for researchers who have spent years documenting the pythons’ impact, the recordings represent a genuine shift, however modest.
The Everglades has begun to push back. Native predators are learning to treat the python as prey. Whether that adaptation will be enough to change the trajectory of the invasion remains an open question.
