{"id":584709,"date":"2026-04-15T00:58:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T00:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/584709\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T00:58:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T00:58:09","slug":"this-footage-of-a-puking-snake-is-a-gross-reminder-of-why-python-control-is-so-important","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/584709\/","title":{"rendered":"This Footage of a Puking Snake Is a Gross Reminder of Why Python Control Is So Important"},"content":{"rendered":"

A professional python hunter in South Florida was recently reminded \u2014 in a nauseating way \u2014 of why exactly he and others<\/a> spend so much time and effort finding and removing the giant, invasive snakes from the Everglades. In a video he shared to Instagram, Kev Pav gave viewers an up-close look at a Burmese python regurgitating a native bird. The giant snake, writhing on the ground, opens its flexible mouth and jawbones to spit out the dead bird in one piece, feathers and all.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ONLY reason that I am involved in python removal is to save native wildlife,\u201d Pav, who goes by the handle snakeaholic<\/a>, wrote in the post<\/a>. \u201cThis video is a prefect [sic] example of the impact that pythons have on native wildlife.\u201d<\/p>\n

These impacts have been widely studied over the years by researchers, who\u2019ve found evidence of Burmese pythons eating their way through the food web of the Greater Everglades ecosystem. The snakes primarily target smaller mammals like marsh rabbits, and in some places, studies have shown<\/a>, they\u2019ve reduced rabbit populations by more than 75 percent.<\/p>\n

Read Next: Watch: Researchers Find a Whole Alligator Inside an 18-Foot-Long Burmese Python<\/a><\/p>\n

Burmese pythons can also swallow much bigger prey, due to their ability to open their flexible jaws even wider than their bodies. This includes larger mammals \u2014 such as raccoons, bobcats, and even full-sized whitetail deer<\/a> \u2014 along with other reptiles<\/a> and all kinds of birds.<\/p>\n

Researchers in the Everglades have found the remains of at least 58 different bird species<\/a> in the digestive tracts of pythons. The giant snakes will also seek out nests to consume the eggs. One study by the National Audubon Society<\/a> found that birds (along with their eggs) make up roughly a quarter of a typical Burmese python\u2019s diet in South Florida.<\/p>\n

Pav did not respond immediately to a request for comment from Outdoor Life, and it\u2019s not clear from the video what kind of bird was regurgitated. It\u2019s also unclear what caused the snake to spit up its last meal. Some python trackers and biologists<\/a> will often palpate \u2014 or tap on \u2014 a snake\u2019s stomach to force regurgitation.<\/p>\n

Read Next: What It\u2019s Like to Get Dragged Through a Florida Swamp by a 200-Pound Python<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a native species. This is what\u2019s supposed to be here,\u201d Pav says, holding up the dead bird in one hand and the invasive snake in the other. \u201cAnd these, these [snakes] are from Asia \u2026 And every single one of these [apex predators] that we remove saves the lives of our native wildlife animals.\u201d<\/p>\n