Burmese python devours white-tailed deer

A giant Burmese python was discovered swallowing a deer whole in Florida’s Everglades wetlands. This impressive feeding ability challenges models of mouth opening for this famous invasive python. “It looks like we’ve caught a serial killer red-handed and it’s tense watching it in real time,” Live Science on October 24 quoted Ian Bartoszek, wildlife biologist and science coordinator at the conservation organization Conservancy of Southwest Florida.

Female Burmese python (Python bivittata) is 4.5 m long and weighs 52 kg. It was found feeding on white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) weighs 35 kg, 67% of its mass. To swallow the deer, the python’s mouth expands so wide that it reaches 93% of its maximum opening, according to research published in the journal Reptiles & Amphibians. “This is the most impressive sight we have ever observed in 12 years of monitoring pythons in southwest Florida,” said study co-author Bartoszek.

The Burmese python is an invasive python species in the Everglades region, appearing in the mid to late 20th century. The first python was recorded in 1979 and by the 1990s, they had strongly invaded, specializing in eating other species. native while having no natural predators to control their numbers. Although the current population size is unknown, experts estimate there are hundreds of thousands of pythons in Florida. Over the past few decades, Burmese pythons have wreaked havoc on the ecosystem, wiping out several species of mammals. Burmese pythons often eat deer and even short-snouted crocodiles, but finding hunting pythons is very difficult, leaving scientists with little knowledge about their feeding abilities and their impact on the ecosystem.

According to research, the maximum mouth opening of the Burmese python was previously thought to be 22 cm. However, the research team tested 3 pythons, including a 4.5 m long python, and found that they could open a maximum of 26 cm. The findings greatly influenced models of how much food Burmese pythons can swallow. Burmese pythons can swallow huge prey because their jaws are not connected at the front, allowing them to open their mouths much wider than other species of the same size.

The deer-eating python was located with the assistance of a male python named Ronin. Ronin wearing a tracking device led the research team to the female python in the program of releasing male pythons as guides during the breeding season. Burmese pythons are fertile, each female can lay dozens of eggs each season. Removing female pythons is one way to control their numbers.