Tracking Pythons: The Quest to Catch an Invasive Predator and Save an Ecosystem
Contents INTRODUCTION PYTHON PATROL CHAPTER 1 A PERFECT HOME CHAPTER 2 SNAKE SURGERY CHAPTER 3 FIRST SIGNS OF TROUBLE CHAPTER 4 BACK TO THE WILD CHAPTER 5 HOW TO CATCH A PREDATOR CHAPTER 6 THE STORIES DEAD SNAKES TELL CHAPTER 7 SLITHERING ONWARD 4 10 16 22 28 32 40 46 AUTHOR’S NOTE 56 INVASIVE SPECIES MOST WANTED LIST 58 TIMELINE OF FLORIDA’S BURMESE PYTHON INVASION 59 GLOSSARY 60 SOURCE NOTES 61 BIBLIOGRAPHY 62 FURTHER READING 63 INDEX 64
INTRODUCTION PYTHON PATROL
BEEP BEEP BEEP Ian Bartoszek holds a radio receiver listening as the beeps grow louder Keep your eyes open he says as we push into thick vegetation behind a Southwest Florida plant nursery Bartoszek leads the way hacking at the thick brush with a machete while fellow researchers Ian Easterling and Monica Lasky follow We’re searching for snakes Specifically we’re looking for a Burmese python named Argo This snake is part of a special project aimed at helping scientists learn more about Florida’s Burmese pythons and controlling their populations Inside Argo’s body he carries a small radio transmitter that allows researchers to check on his location from time to time Bartoszek knows Argo is nearby because Scan QR code to see scientists searching for a Burmese python he picked up the giant snake’s signal from an airplane Scientists from the Conservancy of Southwest Florida make telemetry flights every two weeks or so They soar 1,000 feet 300 m above the scrublands and swamps in a small plane with antennas on the wings Researcher Ian Bartoszek surveys the landscape on an aerial telemetry flight over Southwest Florida 5
