Yikes!

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida's newest problem is a creepy one, and it is roughly the circumference of a telephone pole. It has no toes. It snacks on rabbits. And it's growing in number and in feet: the Burmese python. Florida Everglades National Park biologist Skip Snow said last year they caught 95 pythons. That's not counting the 13-footer that exploded after trying to eat an alligator, or two others that got loose and ate a Siamese cat and a turkey. To keep the problem from sliding further out of control, state Rep. Ralph Poppell wants to add Burmese pythons to Florida's list of regulated reptiles. His bill could force python buyers to complete state training, buy a license and face jail time if they let their snakes loose. Overwhelmed with pets that eat more than they do, python owners decide to release their snakes into the wild. It's so common in the Everglades that there's even a python hot line. And there the Asian natives breed and find a comfortable home in the Everglades' water, heat and vegetation. They have no predators. The bill is being heard in committees on both sides.