No hatchling burms on this trip

Back and forth, back and forth, and then back and forth again. Jake and I were on a stretch of road that was new to us; a stretch of road that was known for the many hatchling Burmese pythons, Python (molurus) bivitattus, that had been found on and along it.

The day had been hot and very humid. We arrived at our destination early to spend a pre-dusk hour birding. With some bird species already queuing for their winter migration southward, that pursuit was successful. With sunset fading on the western horizon and dusk well upon us, a crossing Florida banded water snake signaled that it was time to turn our attention to herping. So we did.

During the following several hours, we saw dozens of green, banded, and brown water snakes, striped crayfish snakes, and corn snakes, while hoping all the while for a crossing hatchling python.

Garter and ribbon snakes became active and water snakes became super-active. By 10:00PM, we had seen no pythons and we began thinking about the air-conditioned comfort of the motel, but were loathe to give up. 11:00PM came and went.

Serpentine activity had waned and we were now counting pack rats, cotton rats, opossums, and raccoons. Although all of these small mammals have supposedly been decimated by the pythons, there were many visible on this night.

We were on what we had decided would be our last pass of the night, when Jake hollered "PYTHON!" We never did see any of the hatchlings we so eagerly sought, but the finding of this ten foot long, slightly skinny male, brought a satisfying closure to our many hours of road-cruising.

More photos below...

This 10 foot long male Burmese python was a bit on the thin side. A hatchling Burmese python.

Author, photographer, and columnist Richard Bartlett is one of the most prolific writers on herpetological subjects in the 20th century. With hundreds of books and articles to their credit, Richard and his wife Pat have spent over four decades documenting reptiles both in the field and in captivity. For a list of their current titles, please visit their page in our bookstore.