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A month after Donald Trump and his allies pushed unsubstantiated claims that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were eating cats and dogs, biologists in Florida say the state’s giant warns that snakes are actually eating pets.
Burmese pythons feed on native wildlife in south Florida, including white-tailed deer and alligators, according to a study published in the journal Reptiles & Amphibians.
Ian Bartoszek, a wildlife biologist and one of the study’s authors, told ABC7 that in December 2022, his team witnessed a 15-foot-long female Burmese python preying on an adult deer. .
“For us biologists, this was the most intense event we’ve ever seen during a mission,” he told the outlet. “It couldn’t have been more primitive.”
A Burmese python eats a white-tailed deer in southern Florida. Now biologists warn that giant snakes are eating whole animals in the state (Ian Bartoszek / Reptiles and Amphibians)
The creatures, considered an invasive species in southern Florida, can spread their jaws so wide that they can capture relatively large prey, the paper said. For example, the smallest snake studied weighed about 115 pounds, but was able to prey on a deer weighing about 77 pounds, the paper said.
“Knowing the size of prey that a predator can consume makes it easier to understand and predict ecological impacts,” the paper says.
But it’s not just deer that can be eaten. Giant snakes can eat forest creatures and livestock if left to roam.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Burmese pythons can consume a diet equal to 100 percent of their body weight and are known to eat mammals, birds, and reptiles.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Burmese pythons can consume a diet equal to 100 percent of their body weight and are known to eat mammals, birds and reptiles. (AFP/Getty Images)
The latest biological revelations come on the heels of former president and vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance and others accusing Haitian immigrants of eating dogs and cats in Springfield, Ohio, without evidence.
Springfield police, city officials and even Governor Mike DeWine have condemned these claims, which fuel anti-immigrant rhetoric.
“Our people and our history deserve better than being misrepresented,” DeWine wrote in a September op-ed.
The Republican governor continued: “I am saddened that they and others continue to repeat claims that lack evidence and disparage the legal immigrants who live in Springfield…This rhetoric hurts the city and its residents and hurts the people who have spent their lives there. Masu. “
