The Snake And The Deer

I can't believe what I just read. It seems impossible. I was sure it must be impossible. But there it was in the news just as plain as could be. It involves a very large snake and an adult deer. Can you guess? Read on.


We've been hearing about discarded animals, especially exotic pets, being found in the Everglades. Many people think boa constrictors and pythons are cool pets. Then they start to grow and they become expensive to keep and difficult to handle. Not so cool any more.

So what do they do? What any irresponsible pet owner would do... they dump it.

The Everglades is like heaven to reptiles. There is plenty of food and water. The temperature is warm. Constrictors and pythons flourish there.

Recently officials in Florida reported that they had captured a 16 foot long Burmese python in the Everglades. It is one of the largest they have ever captured.

What about the deer, you say? Well, one of the reasons they were able to capture this monstrously large snake is that it was still languid from having just eaten. What it ate was an adult female deer that weighed about 76 pounds!

How on earth did it do that? The way snakes eat their food is to unhinge their jaws and sort of crawl around the animal. Those had to be some massive jaws!

I guess my point is: if you have any pet, exotic or otherwise, please don't abandon it. Take it to the humane society or some other group that will see that it is properly taken care of. If you think about it, you will realize that these overgrown former pets will eventually become a danger to areas that are not as remote as the Everglades.

Copas