Tracking Pythons: The Quest to Catch an Invasive Predator and Save an Ecosystem
MEET THE PYTHON SCIENTISTS Who would want to work in the sweltering heat of South Florida tromping through marshes full of mosquitoes Not surprisingly the people who choose this work are here because they’re fascinated by the natural world IAN BARTOSZEK Title environmental science python project manager Conservancy of Southwest Florida Education bachelor of science in wildlife and fisheries science from the University of Arizona Bartoszek loved turning over rocks to look for salamanders when he was a kid In high school he had two pet albino pythons that escaped in his house sometimes so he had early practice at tracking hard-to-find snakes One time a python got out of its tank while the family had guests They didn’t mention the escape to their visitors but after their company left they found the missing snake curled up in the guest room closet IAN EASTERLING Title field technician Conservancy of Southwest Florida Education bachelor of science in integrative biology from Elon University Easterling’s fascination with animals goes back as far as he can remember In kindergarten he always came home with animals-of-the-world activity pages and he loved watching Steve Irwin the Crocodile Hunter on TV In college he got to work with lions tigers and wolves at a conservation center in North Carolina Easterling wrote on his Conservancy job application that he was good at reaching and lifting both good skills if part of your job is going to involve dragging 100-pound 45 kg pythons out of the woods 8
KATIE KING Title 2019 2020 python intern Conservancy of Southwest Florida Education bachelor of science in wildlife biology from California Polytechnic State University King knew way back in sixth grade that she wanted to be a wildlife biologist Her fascination with snakes began in college when she participated in a rattlesnake research project in California I love working with rattlesnakes because it’s really cool and exciting but you can’t handle them You always have to use tongs to put them in a bucket and it’s always super dangerous King says But here you can actually jump on a python and grab it MONICA LASKY Title 2018 2019 python intern Conservancy of Southwest Florida Education bachelor of science in zoology from North Carolina State University As a child Lasky loved visiting the zoo She was also an avid horseback rider who worked as a trail guide for a while She remembers one day when she was riding along and saw a little green tree snake on the tree next to her Some people in her group were horrified and one cried out Eww it’s a snake Lasky replied But it’s a snake that’s so cool She felt as if she was able to make them look differently at snakes that day I was able to tell them how important snakes are and how scary they aren’t 9
CHAPTER 1 A PERFECT HOME South Florida’s Ecosystem
South Florida is a place that insists on being wild no matter how much development sprawls into the swamp Panthers prowl the highways at night snakes slither onto screened-in verandas and alligators take up residence in golf course ponds Wildlife especially thrives in protected areas such as Everglades National Park Big Cypress National Preserve Collier-Seminole State Park Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve Picayune Strand State Forest and Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park These protected areas provide essential habitats for plants and animals Freshwater marshes are full of cattails rushes water lilies and sawgrass that can grow up to 9 feet 2 7 m tall Scattered among them are islands of cypress trees and billowing ferns The region’s hardwood forests known as hammocks are filled with palm trees and live oaks The plants are so dense they’ve had to evolve unique ways to survive and spread The strangler fig for example produces a fruit that’s eaten by birds that poop out the seeds Sometimes those seeds land in the tops of other trees where they sprout The strangler fig starts out as an epiphyte a plant that gets the nutrients it needs from the air But the strangler fig also sends roots down from the treetops and when those roots reach the forest floor they expand so much that they eventually surround the host tree kill it and take over its spot in the forest A strangler fig encircles a tree near the Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk in Southwest Florida 11
