Burmese pythons continue to be an invasive species in Florida, but declining deer numbers in the state have concerned scientists given that the grazers form an important diet of local predators, including the critically endangered Florida panther.<\/p>\n
However, scientists came upon a promising discovery that could positively impact those concerning statistics.<\/p>\n
Researchers spent a year tracking the digestion of several large female females, which they believed would most likely eat a deer, to\u00a0better understand the ecological impacts of the invasive snake.<\/p>\n
They were ecstatic to witness one beast regurgitate an entire deer earlier this year \u2014 despite the temperatures in South Florida falling below 10C, well below the typically comfortable threshold for the cold-blooded constrictors.<\/p>\n
The snakes find it difficult to function in the cold and their biological processes, including digestion, slow down until the temperature warms back up.<\/p>\n
The scientists detailed coming across one python \u201cwhile it was ingesting a 77 pound (35-kg) white-tailed deer\u201d \u2014 which measured at 66.9% of the snake\u2019s mass.<\/p>\n
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After the cold night in the preserve, scientists revisited the snake and discovered she was lump-free, swimming in the shallow water of a willow swamp with the minimally digested white-tailed deer that it had vomited up nearby.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey found her very empty, and they were able to smell a deer not far away and put two and two together,\u201d Mark Sandfoss, senior author of the study and a biologist at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), told Live Science<\/a>.<\/p>\n