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Floridian could begin seeing a young slithery particular on their bill of fare — Burmese pythons . The invasive coinage is so out of control in the state that the government may begin encouraging the new repast as a style to avail keep the serpent ’s numbers under ascendence , as long as they are n’t filled with toxic mercury .
Before the testimonial , though , the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission ( FWC ) has team up with the Florida Department of Health to get hold out if themercurylevels in python are safe to eat up .
Wildlife biologist Jenny Ketterlin Eckles and wildlife technician Edward Mercer, both with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, hold a Burmese python during a press conference in the Florida Everglades about the non-native species on Jan. 29, 2015 in Miami, Florida.
If that ’s the case , python hunter Donna Kalil is already before of the secret plan . She hunts pythons for the South Florida Water Management District and estimate that she ’s feed a dozen Python over the last three years or so , according to theSouth Florida Sun Sentinel .
" It ’s a wonderful degustation meat , " Kalil told the Sentinel . She describe it as an " acquired opinion process " more than an " acquired gustatory sensation . "
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The python problem
Burmese pythons became established in the mid-1990s in the Everglades National Park , in South Florida , probably as released or escaped pets and then became invasive , accord to theFWC . A metal money becomes invasive when it end up somewhere it should n’t , due to humans , and upsets the equipoise of its raw ecosystem , which has not evolved to cope with alien invaders , Live Science antecedently report .
Recent datum suggests the universe of python is expanding north and west within the Sunshine State . Thelongest Burmese python captured in Floridawas over 18 feet ( 5.4 meters ) long . Typically , they average out between 6 and 9 feet ( 1.8 and 2.7 m ) . Due to their with child size , the snakes have few marauder and will take in a variety of animals , include mammals , birds and even alligators . Some of these fair game are jeopardise or threaten aboriginal coinage , harmonize to the FWC .
It ’s not unheard of for an invasive or just pesky species to be eaten as a means of controlling their populations . In Florida , the non - nativelionfishand raging boar can be consumed for example . Even iguanas have been knight the " chicken of the trees , " with the University of Florida publishingrecipe ideas . So what is different about python ?
Mercury accumulates
Python sum may be peculiarly vulnerable to quicksilver contamination , which poses a scourge to human health .
Mercury is a course occurring chemical element in Earth ’s impertinence but human activities , such as mining and burning fogy fuels , have led to high point of quicksilver being exhaust into the atmosphere . It is then bear back to Earth through rainfall . Mercury pollution in the Everglades is especially in high spirits as water vaporize off its lush vegetation lead to the formation of elephantine mercury - absorbing rain clouds vibrate above the area for most of the twelvemonth , Live Science previously reported .
When quicksilver go in our freshwater and seawater organisation , certain microorganisms can pluck it up and change it into methylmercury . This form build up in the food chain as one contaminated animal is eat up by another . For a giant snake , cruise through mercury - infested swamps eating almost anything that moves , the risk of infection of pollution is very real .
Some of the pythons found in the Everglades have antecedently registered " strikingly high-pitched levels of mercury , " more than double what the state of Florida considers good for edible Pisces the Fishes , Live Science previously report . If devour by humans , mercury poisoningmay make various condition , including neurological and chromosomal problems and parentage defects .
— In mental image : athirst python eats porcupine whole
— Alien invaders : Destructive invasive species
— Photos : Giant python obtrude upon Everglades
In the newfangled research , scientists will measure mercury stratum in tissue from captured pythons . The objective of the subject area is to recrudesce and apportion " usance advisories for Burmese Python in South Florida to well inform the public , " FWC wildlife commission spokeswoman Susan Neel toldCNN .
If you are worried about Kalil , who eat python several times a workweek , you need n’t be . Her daughter buy her a mercury - testing outfit to substantiate the snakes she deplete are secure , allot to the Sentinel .
primitively published on Live Science .
