Florida’s giant pythons have a new predator, and the video stunned wildlife experts. For years, the invasive snakes have decimated local wildlife with no natural enemy strong enough to stop them.
In the summer of 2021, researchers reviewing footage from a trail camera in the Big Cypress National Preserve in southern Florida watched something they had not recorded before. A Florida bobcat approached the nest of an adult Burmese python, a protected clutch of eggs, and began to eat them. The animal then cached the remaining eggs, a behavior suggesting it intended to return. The footage marked…
Florida spent millions on hunts and radio-tracked “scout snakes” to fight invasive Burmese pythons, yet nature may have quietly found a $0 solution. For over a decade, the Everglades seemed defenseless—raccoon sightings plummeted 99.3 percent as the constrictors spread.
In June 2021, a camera placed near a Burmese python nest in Big Cypress National Preserve recorded a bobcat eating the python’s eggs. The incident was the first documented case of a native Florida animal preying on python eggs.The Burmese python population in the Everglades has grown since the snakes began breeding in the wild around 2000. Many were released pets or escapees. Native animals had no…
Wildlife biologists conducting routine animal surveys across the upper Midwest over the past fifteen years have encountered a consistent surprise. Bobcats captured in traps or recorded by trail
Wildlife biologists conducting routine animal surveys across the upper Midwest over the past fifteen years have encountered a consistent surprise. Bobcats captured in traps or recorded by trail cameras have been consistently larger than the size ranges documented in scientific reference books and historical records for the region. The animals being measured and weighed are larger than any reasonab…