Florida’s pythons are being eaten alive from within—and scientists are stunned. The invasive snakes, already a deadly threat to local wildlife, now face an invisible killer.
In southern Florida, python hunters keep mental records of their catches. Last season, those numbers took an unexpected turn. Hunters captured fewer live pythons than the year before, which initially seemed like positive news. Fewer invasive snakes would suggest the ecosystem was recovering. But population models indicated the opposite. Radio transmitters attached to more than sixty monitored pyth…