Talk:Burmese pythons in Florida

January 2010

Please do not re-create this page by reverting the edit to redirect. It is nothing but a copy-paste from the burmese python and alligator articles. If you want to re-write it, with sources and such, great, but as-is, it's nothing but a crappy cut-and-paste job. Mokele (talk) 18:48, 14 January 2010 (UTC)

I made it a copy-paste because I hoped you Mokele Mbembe would change the wording make it a different article. If you cannot do that stay to your little dinosaur friends. --Schmeater (talk) 23:26, 15 January 2010 (UTC)

I have much, much more important things to do than to do your work for you. Either make it something actually worth keeping, or stop reverting it. I'll leave it as-is for a week. If you're too lazy to make *substantial* improvements by then, I revert it. Mokele (talk) 23:41, 15 January 2010 (UTC)

What much more important things? --Schmeater (talk) 00:13, 16 January 2010 (UTC)

Doing actual science. What's your excuse, too busy editing useless pages of pop-culture dreck? Mokele (talk) 00:22, 16 January 2010 (UTC)

Two days left. Mokele (talk) 04:10, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

Let us make it another week. You should have dropped by and given me tips okay without that I say you aint a good dinosaur. Science is solubility not dinosaurs that do not exist got it. --Schmeater (talk) 04:57, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

Sorry, been busy teaching medical school. Also, the name is meant to be ironic, since the creature in question turned out to be just a rhino. Mokele (talk) 13:54, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

You teach at medical school and go to wikipedia? I am in medical school and go to wikipedia but that is normal I am a student not a teacher. Sorry Dino-rhino. Okay now I do need more time exams are coming I need to study. --Schmeater (talk) 00:45, 22 January 2010 (UTC)

Fixed. I have added new info that is importan impaired on copyright section into one sentence. I have done a lot of things to this article alone. I demand your reply. (PS I did it in exams week) --Schmeater (talk) 23:26, 22 January 2010 (UTC)

OK, time's up and them some. Time to remove anything that's irrelevant, off-topic, or just plain wrong. Mokele (talk) 00:18, 29 April 2010 (UTC)

This was just a first pass - doing nothing more than removing crap and shortening / cleaning up, I've reduced the entire page to barely longer than the section in the Burmese Python article. Honestly, there's no reason not to merge it there. Mokele (talk) 01:15, 29 April 2010 (UTC)

Hey why do we have killer bees. Because native and non native bees bred together. Forming killer bees. Now what if rock pythons breed with burmese pythons, super snake I agree retarded name. Subject: Not so much. Laws need to be stressed. American Alligator Interactions need to be explained to show that the territory war is still on! Oh and there's a war between you and me too.

So lets cut to the chase. What else should I do to fix this article. I don't want you helping or at least fixing it. --Schmeater (talk) 00:58, 30 April 2010 (UTC)

Show me an actual hybrid individual, and it can be mentioned - any claim without empirical evidence to support it will be immediately removed. Just because two congenerics occur in sympatry doesn't mean there will be hybridization. And there is NO evidence that gator populations are adversely affected by these snakes - the fact that you even use the term "territory war" shows you have absolutely zero understanding of ecology.

What needs to be done is to merge this article back into Burmese Python. There is simply not enough on this topic to warrant its own page, *especially* considering the overlap on that page (which, frankly, I need to clean up as well). I have been saying this from day one, and not just based on your writing - there simply isn't enough information out there on this topic to warrant a separate page. Most of what is out there is just pointless alarmism, baseless speculation, or constant re-hashing of what's already known. Just merge it and be done with the whole mess. Mokele (talk) 01:22, 30 April 2010 (UTC)

Not merge back and I will combine our writing how about that. If we have to merge this into anything. It's three articles: Burmese Python, American Alligator, Python Sebae and Florida. Understand, give me suggestions on this page of what to clean. Don't clean it yourself, you don't need to clean it up. Why don't you go teach back at medical school.--Schmeater (talk) 02:05, 30 April 2010 (UTC)

Give me a single good reason NOT to merge it. There *nothing* in here that needs to go into either the gator or rock python page - everything about those species here is baseless speculation. And the next time you return all of your crap to this page, I'm bringing this to the admins. Mokele (talk) 12:17, 30 April 2010 (UTC)

Give me a good reason to not stop you from merging it. And I want an admin of my choice. Does that seem fair to you. --Schmeater (talk) 22:32, 30 April 2010 (UTC)

I did revert back. But then I had an idea, why not work on your version of the page and transform it into my version. The edits I made are very little so if you want bring an admin I did revert back to your version. --Schmeater (talk) 23:57, 30 April 2010 (UTC)

So you support merging it into the relevant section of the Burmese Python article? Mokele (talk) 01:30, 1 May 2010 (UTC)

No. I never said that. I support expanding your version of the article with references. But still keeping it a short and succinct article. What are your thoughts on this? --Schmeater (talk) 05:23, 1 May 2010 (UTC)

Ok, if we're going to keep it, first thing we need to do is ditch the trivia. Nobody gives a shit about who took what photo, random quotes, or even that "exploding python" thing. They're colorful but not really informative. I propose the following sections (titles temporary): Introduction (obviously), Origins & Spread, Current Status, Future Predictions, Control/Eradication Attempts, Legislative Response (plus references, links and suchlike). Big points to hit would be the thesis mentioned in one of the links I used (I'll see if I can get ahold of it), Both USGS papers on the topic, the PLoS paper contesting the results, as well as more generalized papers from invasion biology and Rodda's book on Problem Snake management (I have a copy of that). The general senstationalism/alarmism of the mainstream media should probably be avoided if at all possible.Mokele (talk) 16:16, 1 May 2010 (UTC)

Okay, those go very good with it. But we need to give American Alligator at least a mention if not a section. I like your sections.--Schmeater (talk) 16:41, 1 May 2010 (UTC)

Good so far - I'll do a major content addition in a week or two, once this latest set of surgeries is done. In the meantime, you should be able to access the VPI pythons pdf I added as a ref for this article as well as the Rodda USGS paper and PLoS paper referenced in the invasive section of Burmese python. Those give a pretty good idea of what I'm shooting for. Mokele (talk) 01:08, 2 May 2010 (UTC)

Sure thing. --Schmeater (talk) 00:59, 4 May 2010 (UTC)

Prey and Predators section. Do you like that one? --Schmeater (talk) 04:14, 13 May 2010 (UTC)

I just wanted to add a quick note, after reading through this. A Burmese/Rock python hybrid has been available in captivity for quite some time now. The hybrid snake was dubbed a 'cateater'. (The Burmese/Reticulated python cross is a 'Bateater'). This is something very easily found with a quick Google search, so the folks crying 'super snake' really need an education (but, we knew that). You see, Cateaters universally grow up to be smaller animals than either of their parent species. The biggest females rarely exceed 11 feet in length, about the size of a red-tail boa. Males stay 9 to 10 feet. So, far from being an aggressive, dangerous, 'super-snake', they don't pose a threat to humans at all. Additionally, creating a cateater hybrid is not particularly easy. These two species do not prefer to crossbreed, and must be tricked into it. WingedWolf (talk) 5.07 PM, 19 July 2011 (CST)

Photo question

Looking at this picture, which is entitled 'American Alligator predating a Burmese Python', it seems to me that nothing of the sort is happening; the two animals are just lying there, not apparently molesting each other at all; it happens that part of the snake's body is inside the gator's open mouth, but the gator seems oblivious to the opportunity! Unless anyone knows better, perhaps it should be re-captioned.Coleopterist (talk) 01:09, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

The source of the photo, USGS, states it was taken during a predation event. Furthermore, while no "action" is occurring at the moment of the photo, the idea that a python would willingly crawl into the mouth of a live alligator strains credulity, especially given the tendency of gators to reflexively close their jaws when anything touches the inside of their mouth. Mokele (talk) 01:31, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

have now checked the source and you're right about what the photographer claims (though I don't believe her). I would have thought that as you say, the fact the snake and alligator are indifferent to one another 'strains credulity' and is therefore more interesting than the photographer's sensationalism. Coleopterist (talk) 23:28, 13 August 2011 (UTC)

The photo was obviously taken during a pause in the action. Reptiles often engage in activity in bursts, rather than continuous activity the way mammals and birds often do. They're both taking a rest--in a moment, the snake will begin to try to move away again, and the gator will slam its jaws down and shake it again. Such are the lives of ectotherms. ;)

Winged_Wolf (talk) 11:14, 26 December 2011 (CST)