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SREL (SC) python study results finally out of the bag...

What a crock!

"Thus, it is likely that some of the snakes from Florida could survive typical winters in South Carolina, provided they are able to locate suitable refugia and do not adopt inappropriate thermoregulatory behavior," the study said.

Actually, I'm looking forward to feeding squirrels, rabbits and feral cats to the first Burm to reach my yard...
 
I don't know about their natural habitat, but if they were to start producing more cold resistant babies, wouldn't we see them expanding out of the areas where they are native, to colder climates?
 
Outcast said:
I don't know about their natural habitat, but if they were to start producing more cold resistant babies, wouldn't we see them expanding out of the areas where they are native, to colder climates?
Click to expand...
:headbang: Why would they produce cold-resistant babies?
 
Teddy Roosevelt said:
:headbang: Why would they produce cold-resistant babies?
Click to expand...

No idea, just stating that if we were to see it here, It would have most likely happened in their native lands first.

Like the grey banded kingsnake, which is now protected in NM because they found 2 in SE NM. They figured that they were dying off and had always been here, instead of thinking that possibly they are expanding their habitat.
 
I don't think they would produce more cold resistant baby's, but the baby's which are most cold resistant, would have a better change of surviving, hence mating, hence reproduction. In the long run the average cold resistance of the population would get better. Evolution is a natural selection process, not a reaction or anticipation started by some natural intelligent force (as I see it).
 
Teddy Roosevelt said:
:headbang: Why would they produce cold-resistant babies?
Click to expand...

I don't doubt that natural selection could effect them in this way to at least some extent, IF they are able to survive long enough to establish self-sustaining populations. But I don't think their estimate of "decades" is anywhere near accurate. Not unless they mean a dozen decades...

Problem is, that's a mighty big "if". In order for there to be an "invasion", the animals would need to survive long enough to reproduce several times, with enough unrelated animals to provide a sufficient gene pool. Half the animals died when the temperature reached only 25*F. That's not good odds. This may have been an unusually cold winter for SC, but 25*F isn't all that cold and definitely isn't all that uncommon, even across the south. If HALF the population dies the first time the temperature hits that low, the rest isn't gonna fare well.

How many winters could an invasive population possibly survive? I don't know, but I seriously doubt it would be enough to have any sort of an evolutionary effect...
 
Reminds me of Chicken Little, Henny Penny, Ducky Lucky, Goosey Loosey, Turkey Lurkey, and Foxy Loxy.

There will always be 'chicken littles' claiming the sky is falling.
 
It's pretty much guaranteed to get to 25F here in north central Florida, so how are they even going to make it up to SC???
 
We get to 25 degrees here in South Carolina every winter without fail. I guarantee you that no burms would survive a typical winter here. Even though last winter was unseasonably cold, it still wasn't that off from a typical winter. The cold DAYS lasted longer than normal, but the nights were quite typical being the the low teens. Even if we hadn't had colder than normal winter this last winter I suspect that none of the burms would have survived the winters here at all.
 
You know this whole python invasion thing is so stupid.

I was watching a show on Discovery about wild pigs. They are the problem!
They cause so much damage and are breeding and spreading uncontrollably!
 
Pythons surviving temps of 25 degrees F over multiple winters? Seems possible to me! Heck, I have a T. rex that comes around my backyard every night at about 3:00AM. How do I know? My dog barks non-stop for 20 minutes religiously at that time every night, waking me up, to chase it away and he says it's a T. rex. I have to believe him because I can never find anything else for him to be barking at when I go out in by bathrobe with a flashlight in one hand and my makarov in the other. I've never seen the T. rex myself, but that's because my dog's barking has already chased it away by the time I get outside.
 
They're a nuisance aren't they Susan? We have a feral colony of T.Rexes in the woods at the bottom of the garden. They get into the garbage and throw it everywhere, churn up the veggie patch and hold wild parties. I've never actually seen them either but every flippin' night it's the same racket. The local council don't seem interested and I can't find an exterminator with a big enough van to take them away.

On the up-side, they do keep the foxes off the lawn. And if we had them in the UK, they'd scare off raccoons, coyotes, dingos and brontosaurus (I understand they're a major problem for home owners in Belgium and the Netherlands due to their wood boring activities).
 
Well, you guys are lucky, because according to Futurama, they are Gods humblest creations and will save us from an alien invasion.
 
The whole thing is ridiculous. Big, cold blooded animals do not live in cold climates. They don't even live in temperate climates, it's the tropics or death.
 
KingCrimson<3 said:
The whole thing is ridiculous. Big, cold blooded animals do not live in cold climates. They don't even live in temperate climates, it's the tropics or death.
Click to expand...

Well, being wrong has never stopped a politician from fighting for what they want in the past, so why should it start now?:eek1:
 
You wouldn't have a T. rex problem...

if all the irresponsible owners didn't let them loose as soon as they start eating the neighbors' dogs and kids! (Of course, it didn't help that the Fish and Game Dept dropped them by helicopter in the 'Glades to help control the Burms, but I doubt that could be the main cause)!
 
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