I got to reminiscing about south Florida, after reading Dennis
Paulsen's message. I still vividly remember braking for a very long
and heavy-looking Indigo Snake crossing the road in upper Key Largo
(1964?, when on leave). I imagine there are very few Indigos there now.

Phil Hotlen
Bellingham, WA

-----

Phil, there are indeed very few Indigos down there now. They were
common when I lived there a half-century ago, but they have suffered
from both habitat destruction and overcollecting for the pet trade.
They are strictly protected now, but that never has stopped the pet
rustlers. But Netta saw the tail end of a snake crossing a path on
the Loop Road (W of Miami) that was probably an Indigo, from her
description of it. I was surprised not to see more snakes, and the
only one I saw in a week was a surprise. I certainly should have
remembered to mention it in my post, an 8-foot Burmese Python that we
found dead on the road on the Tamiami Trail W of Miami. We drove past
the snake, and I said something like "**** ****, that's the biggest
snake I've ever seen in Florida," and wheeled the car around to check
it. It was too badly damaged for a photo with any aesthetic value at
all, but that's what it was, about 5 inches in diameter.

So yes, there's another reason not to go swimming in the canals of
southern Florida. Apparently there is a substantial population of
large pythons in the Everglades! I suppose they're munching on
Limpkins and Anhingas and other birds, as well as deer, raccoons,
marsh rabbits, and river otters. I don't think crocodilians are major
food items for pythons, but on the other hand, alligators are the
most common large animals there. These two large predators are surely
having some effect on the ecosystem, and they're interacting with one
another as well, with several recorded cases of one killing the
other. There's some irony in that.
-----
Dennis Paulson
1724 NE 98 St.
Seattle, WA 98115
206-528-1382
dennispaulson at comcast.net

**** **** - revered excreta

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