NPR interviews players in Florida python saga

With the hearing on H. R. 511 and the release of a new report questioning the conclusions of the original USGS study this week, yesterday National Public Radio's (NPR) All Things Considered wrote about the issue and interviewed some of the players in the on-going saga of the Burmese python in South Florida. NRAAC panelist Dr. Elliott Jacobson, National Geographic Society resident herpetologist Dr. Brady Barr, and Dr. Gordon Rodda, author of the original USGS study (now retired) all spoke to NPR. Although most of their statements did not appear to make the interview's final cut, those that did are very brief and very specific.

Jacobson says pythons have trouble eating and digesting food at temperatures below 60 degrees. "The bottom-line conclusion was the number of freezing days in the winter is going to limit the ability of this animal to spread beyond extreme South Florida," he says.

To read the article please check out NPR's website, or listen to the story and interviews here.