500-pound 'mating pile' of pythons found in Florida marsh near Naples

A team of trackers looking for invasive Burmese pythons in Florida found more than they’d bargained for when they stumbled upon a 500-pound pile of snakes in the marsh.

The discovery occurred late last month in Naples, where the team found the 7-foot-wide mound of tangled pythons, says conservancy biologist Ian Bartoszek. All 11 snakes were euthanized, he adds. “For 10 years, we’ve been catching and putting them down humanely,” Bartoszek says. “You can’t put them in zoos and send them back to Southeast Asia. Invasive species management doesn’t end with rainbows and kittens.”

Burmese pythons, which can grow up to 19 feet long, were first brought to Florida in the 1970s.

They’ve since multiplied and are now responsible for a 90 percent decline in state mammal populations, experts say.

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