Burmese Pythons in the Everglades Backcountry
About 2-years ago I came across a python swimming between two islands in these very same waters int eh Everglades Backcountry. The snake I saw I at first mistook for a large rattle snake. Only about 6-feet of the snake was above water and the large head plus the pattern on its back from a distance looked like the diamond back pattern a rattle snake sports. Using my electric trolling motor to get closer the to snake i eventually came close enough to see down in the water where I could see an additional 10-feet of serpent swimming in wide sweeping tail movements. To be honest the sight gave me the creeps. This snake was at least 16-feet long. The snake in the photo above is about that length given the boat is at least 17-foot in length.
I have been camping in the Everglades now for over 30-years and where we used to have problems with raccoons coming into camp at night trying to steal food and break into our coolers we no longer have that problem. I still strap my coolers at night before i go to bed with bungee cords to keep the raccoons out but it really isn’t necessary any more. Where we used to find the muddy footprints of raccoons all over our boat decks we find them clean and dirt free. The pythons, we surmise, have wiped out the racoons in the Everglades Backcountry.
I will tell you that when we do camp now and before we enter a designated campsite we look around the sight for awhile before we step off the boat to make sure we aren’t being watched.