Python And Alligator Kill Each Other

July 13, 2010 - PRLog -- It was a seldom seen sight that met park rangers in the Everglades National Park, when they found both a 3.9m Burmese python and a 1.8m alligator dead, in south Miami-Dade, Florida, in a remote region of the park.

The deadliest predators of the Florida’s mashes had both lost in a lethal battle.
Rangers think that the pair died in a dispute, after the Burmese python challenged the alligator’s foremost position in the food chain.

The leftovers of the python were found with the victim’s tail sticking out from its erupted abdomen. The head of the python was nowhere to be seen.

Frank Mazzotti, a University of Florida wildlife professor said, "Encounters like that are almost never seen in the wild. They were probably evenly matched in size. If the python got a good grip on the alligator before the alligator got a good grip on him, he could have won".
He said the alligator possibly caused the python’s stomach to burst open, by scratching at the python's sides.

There have been only four known encounters recorded between the two species. In the other cases, the alligator usually won, or it ended in a draw.

While the alligator is a native of the Everglades, the python is an interloper. Many Burmese pythons have been dumped by their owners and have thrived in the wet and hot climate of Florida's swamps over the past twenty years. Scientists say the pythons have created severe ecological damage, through eating the native species.

The pythons usually sell for approximately $20 when young, but grow fast and develop to 3m in length. It is thought more than 144,000 Burmese pythons have been imported into the U.S.A. in the past five years alone. Long before the snakes reach this any real size the owners release their snakes into the wild.

For more information about  "Python And Alligator Kill Each Other", visit website http://www.tropicpost.com/death-of-the-titans/

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