The Burmese python can grow longer than 20 feet, produce several dozen offspring in a litter and devour small children and pets. In North Carolina, it has a new natural enemy: the lawmaker.
There could be thousands of exotic, deadly snakes slithering loose in the state with the potential to harm, in addition to people and animals, entire ecosystems. This is not to mention the possibility of crocodiles.
But the legislature is likely to give final approval next week to a bill that would restrict the ownership and prevent the escape of venomous and large constrictor snakes, as well other dangerous reptiles.
The legislative movement in North Carolina comes as the U.S. Congress is considering a federal ban on pet pythons. U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., introduced legislation in February to halt importation of Burmese pythons. His proposal has gained momentum after an 8-foot Burmese python strangled to death a two-year-old in Sumter, County, Fla. last week.
In the last decade, pythons have attacked 17 people, killing seven, Nelson told a Senate panel on Wednesday.
“When is the time for action?” Nelson said. “We already have one tragedy on our hands.
New York state already bans large constrictor snakes.
Burmese pythons are among the world’s largest snakes, native to Southeast Asia. Because of their normally docile nature, beautiful markings and rapid growth, they are popular among reptile owners. But they are sometimes poorly cared for, and many have been released into the wild. Burmese pythons are on the threatened species list because of hunting and loss of native habitat.
The North Carolina bill adds provisions to a law that hasn’t been updated since 1949, when large snakes were less of a problem. In the intervening decades, perhaps abetted by Alice Cooper, Nastassja Kinski and wrestler Jake the Snake, the reptiles have gained a certain popularity as household pets.
The bill would require these reptiles to be housed and transported in escape-proof containers and would punish people for violating safety precautions.
While it seems like common sense to not let deadly animals escape, that hasn’t stopped it from happening.
“Snakes are escape artists,” said Andy Wood, an education director for the N.C. Audubon society, who has handled snakes since he was young. “And they escape due to human error.”
In North Carolina, Wood said, he regularly sees evidence of these escaped creatures in the wild, and there could be a thousand slithering around the state. He once found the skin of a 20-foot python under a house, where it had survived the winter.
Snakes slithering free can do serious harm. Nonnative pythons threaten entire ecosystems in Florida. Escaped pythons are starting to overrun the Everglades and threaten native species. The area now reportedly contains as many as 150,000 pythons, which are prolific breeders.
And the pythons could spread. Up to one third of the United States is considered a suitable habitat for the snakes, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
North Carolina’s climate, with four seasons, is not as hospitable as Florida’s is to the tropical snakes. But Burmese pythons have been known to survive in below-freezing temperatures and can usually find shelter in urban areas.
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