Snakes are everywhere in Florida — and we have a really big problem with that
It’s a Florida thing: If you live here, you know.
The chances are more than good you’ll see a snake in your lifetime.
And we’re not talking the potential companions in tanks at sweet, little pet shops or small garden variety ones hanging out by your picnic.
They’re in all kinds of places they shouldn’t be. How this guy got into a beer can we’ll never know.
In Pembroke Pines, a guy was just literally walking out of his house and got bitten by a highly venomous water moccasin.
Some lady in Tallahassee found an ANACONDA in her yard. Hello? Anyone home??
A boa was slithering around a field in Miami Lakes. Not good.
At the University of Central Florida, a cop barely could keep it together trying to snag a snake that had slithered into a classroom. It seemed to like where it was — behind the garbage can.
Snakes even like to take dips on occasion. And who wouldn’t want to in the Keys? An Eastern diamondback rattlesnake got its 15 minutes after being spotted in Florida Bay swimming without a care in the world. Look mom, no gills!
An 11-foot Burmese python also decided to get wet in Biscayne National Park. Not a sight you want to see when you’re trying to relax.
Another one was seen “chilling” in a catamaran anchored off Elliott Key. It’s nickname? Pete.
So snakes need a vacation, too. We get it.
Talking about pythons....Don’t get us started.
Burmese pythons were introduced to mortified locals in the 1990s by equally terrified pet owners who released them into the wild when they got too big. Wranglers are paid a handsome sum to get rid of these buggers. And in our opinion, they’re worth every penny.
Another critter that can wipe out a snake: an alligator. That works, too.
Snakes “play an interesting and vital role in Florida’s complex ecology,” according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Interesting? Umm, that’s not the first adjective that comes to mind.
This story was originally published November 19, 2019 at 6:00 AM.
