June 30, 2009, 5:11 pm
One by one, seven slithering Burmese pythons -- some thicker than a forearm -- were dumped into a pit surrounded by 400 feet of reinforced fence.
Some hissed and lunged. Others coiled up under the brush and trees. For the next year all of them will call the pit home.
Ecologists at the Savannah River Ecology Lab will track the nonnative snakes, all captured at Everglades National Park, to determine if they can survive in climates a few hundred miles to the north.
The snakes, capable of growing to 25 feet, have established a breeding population in Florida's Everglades, where they consume native birds and other wildlife, competing with top predators such as alligators. Scientists want to learn how far the snakes can spread, what ecological damage they can do and how they can be stopped.
The federal government is considering designating the Burmese python an "injurious species," which would ban imports and interstate commerce in them.
Ken Warren, spokesman for the U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service, which would make the decision, said the service is aware of the South Carolina study and is "interested in any science that comes out of it."
