I do love Florida wildlife.  I moved here and immediately felt wonder at the variety of plants, birds, and of course sea life.  We combed the beaches for seashells and shark’s teeth, we nervously observe the alligators, and we eagerly watch the ibis and the egrets shuffling through our front yard after a rain.  I did not expect to see a 400-pound, 18-foot Burmese python.

If I had moved to Apopka instead of Venice, I might have seen just that.

From the Orlando Sentinel: 

 A python named Delilah was moved by Florida Wildlife officials to a temporary home when his cage near Lake Apopka, Fla., was deemed unsuitable on Friday, Sept., 11, 2009. They measured her before moving her to a more secure location. She had escaped in the past. The 16 year old snake was measured at 18' long and 30" around. She will be moved to a snake handler in Bushnell, Fla. (GEORGE SKENE, ORLANDO SENTINEL / September 11, 2009)

And here's the video:

<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" id="video" width="320" height="280" data="http://www.myfoxorlando.com/video/videoplayer.swf"><param value="http://www.myfoxorlando.com/video/videoplayer.swf" name="movie"/><param value="&skin=MP1ExternalAll-MFL.swf&embed=true&adSrc=http%3A%2F%2Fad%2Edoubleclick%2Enet%2Fadx%2Ftsg%2Ewofl%2Fnews%2Fcolorado%2Fdetail%3Bdcmt%3Dtext%2Fxml%3Bpos%3D%3Btile%3D2%3Bsz%3D320x240%3Bord%3D603785156272351700%3Frand%3D0%2E12497620191425085&flv=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Emyfoxorlando%2Ecom%2Ffeeds%2FoutboundFeed%3FobfType%3DVIDEO%5FPLAYER%5FSMIL%5FFEED%26componentId%3D130583368&img=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia2%2Emyfoxorlando%2Ecom%2F%2Fphoto%2F2009%2F09%2F11%2F091009raw%2Dpython%5Ftmb0000%5F20090911174857%5F640%5F480%2EJPG&story=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Emyfoxorlando%2Ecom%2Fdpp%2Fnews%2Forange%5Fnews%2F091109%5FPython%5Fremoved%5Ffrom%5FApopka%5Fhome%3Fobref%3Dobinsite" name="FlashVars"/><param value="all" name="allowNetworking"/><param value="always" name="allowScriptAccess"/></object>

(For the LIFE of me I can't get the video to show here, even though I see the tan "placeholder in the edit field.  If it doesn't work, follow this link: Orlando television news story)

Now that was just the most recent story of Florida snakery.  There seems to be a trend here, doesn’t there?

·    September 10, 2009: 150-Pound Python Removed From Home

·    August 28, 2009: 12 Pythons Seized During Investigation

·    August 25, 2009: Mom, Man Charged In Tot's Python Death

·    July 31, 2009: 200-Pound Python, 2 Others Captured

·    July 17, 2009: Local Hunter Bags 10-Foot Python

·    July 15, 2009: 11-Foot Python Found At Townhomes

·    July 1, 2009: 8.5-Foot Python Strangles Toddler

 Wanna come visit?  I have a nice back yard…