Zoo Miami made a surprising discovery when it couldn't locate a Burmese python it had been tracking in Florida. Instead, it found a native cottonmouth snake, with the python and its tracker ingested inside.
X-ray images released by the zoo show the consumed snake's spine and the tracker visible inside the prey's body. The x-ray also shows that the Burmese python was eaten tail-first by the native snake.
"The snake was actually found consumed by a Cottonmouth in the Picayune Strand State Forest in Southwest Florida in May of 2021," Zoo Miami's Communications Director Ron Magill said. "It was being tracked as part of an overall invasive species study by U.S. Fish and Wildlife and the United States Geological Survey on Burmese pythons in the Greater Everglades system in Southern Florida. By implanting these snakes with transmitters, researchers are able to study their movements in hopes of developing better ways to control this invasive species."
Researchers found far more than they bargained for however when they discovered that one of those tracked snakes had been consumed by another, larger snake that is native to the area. Zoo Miami referred to the incident as the native species "fighting back" against the invasive python. Surgeons at Zoo Miami helped in the research by implanting the trackers into the various snakes.
The radiograph shared by the zoo online shows the spine and transmitter of the python visible inside the body of the cottonmouth snake.
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Maybe there's hope against one invasive species....a rivalry created between native snakes and the invaders?....first time I ever pulled for the Cotton Mouth....
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