Pythons are thought to be slithering around southern Florida
like crazy but so far a contest to catch them has produced a
paltry 21 of the invasive snakes. The first week of the state's
2013 Python Challenge ended Friday with fewer than two dozen
Burmese pythons received by the University of Florida even
though 777 people signed up. Wildlife experts say Burmese
pythons are a threat to the Everglades ecosystem and are looking
to whittle down their population, thought to number in the
thousands on state lands alone. Burmese pythons, native to Asia,
are constrictors that can grow to 26 feet long and are known to
be voracious predators of mammals, birds and reptiles. That diet
makes it hard on the state's native predators such as foxes and
bobcats. The non-venomous Burmese pythons have been reported in
extreme south Florida since the 1980s, and now are established
mainly within the bounds of Everglades National Park. The
python-catching event runs through Feb. 10. The person who kills
the most Burmese pythons by