OUR SNAKES ARE BIGGER THAN YOURS!! From todays Sun Sentinel
WESTON - State officers are on the hunt for a wandering python that has been spotted near a residential section of Weston.
For about 30 minutes this afternoon, ending at 3:15 p.m., two state officials walked along a lake near the intersection of State Road 84 and Bonaventure Boulevard with snake-catcher sticks.One stooped to look between metal slats of the water-pumping station located there to see if the snake had slithered inside.
The target: a python that is thought to be at least 7 feet long. Maintenance crews at the water-pumping station have spotted the snake three times since Thursday.
The snake was seen Thursday morning, Friday morning and Monday morning, according to Ron Bergeron, of Weston, a member of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Bergeron got a call this morning and brought the two officers to the lake to track the snake. They hope to catch it alive and bring it to the Wildlife Care Center in Fort Lauderdale, where it would be searched for an identifying chip and eventually killed.
"He could be anywhere," said Officer Bill Carpenter, as he walked along the banks, moving the brush with his stick. "He could be camouflaged in this stuff."
"If he's a Burmese python, he's gonna have an attitude," Carpenter added. The non-native snakes feast on small animals in the Everglades.
"Once they get past 6 feet long, they could take down anything," said Matt Hopp, Carpenter's fellow officer.
The search will resume at 8 a.m. Wednesday. Officers said they think the snake is spending mornings basking in the sun and would be more vulnerable to capture that time of day.
If the python winds up in a pool, the resident is asked to call 561-625-5122 and refrain from approaching it.