OCHOPEE, Fla. - Biologists say they have now documented "antagonistic" interactions between a Florida bobcat and a python at the Big Cypress National Preserve in the Everglades.The team of biologists from the USGS Fort Collins Science Center in Colorado caught the footage while observing the Burmese python, an invasive species to Florida, when its nest was discovered by the native bobcat.
The researchers explained what happened in the footage, which was recorded in June 2021."First, a bobcat discovers an unguarded nest then proceeds to depredate, cache, and uncover the eggs over several days.
The bobcat returns to find the female python back on the nest and later proceeds to swipe at the snake."Fort Collins Science Center / USGS According to the team, this footage is the first documentation of any animal in Florida preying on python eggs, as well as the "first evidence or description of such antagonistic interactions at a python nest."As an invasive species, pythons are hunted in Florida.
The state holds annual python roundups with rewards going to trappers who nab the largest snakes.The 10-day-event last month more than doubled the number of pythons captured the previous year, FOX 35 reports.The most recent 10-day event, in August of last year, ended with 223 Burmese pythons caught.