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Um . . . aren't giant boa constrictors, pythons, etc mostly FROM South America to begin with?  Making them native, and not a threat to anything which they haven't been threatening for a long time.

Then again, as the learned producers behind the Anaconda series of movies have shown us, we can never be TOO worried about giant killer snakes.

by Zwackus on Fri Oct 16th, 2009 at 06:38:52 AM EST
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Only the Anaconda is from South America.  The primary "threat" is from the Burmese Python, which has a much wider range of temperature and moisture tolerance than does the Anaconda.  Yet I have my doubts that even the Burmese Python will threaten El Paso, Las Cruces or Tucson. I suspect that the map cited only considers temperature as a theoretical limit. I rather doubt that the Chihuahua, Sonora, Colorado or Mojave Deserts would offer sufficient megafaunal biomass to support a 4 meter snake.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Fri Oct 16th, 2009 at 09:48:06 AM EST
[ Parent ]
... is not the south of the United States of America, its like this other continent with countries like Venezuala and Brazil and Paraguay and like that

A snake from South America that never made it up the isthmus to the Gulf Coast of North America is not a native species because its from "The Americas". Ecosystems are more specific than that.


I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.

by BruceMcF (agila61 at netscape dot net) on Fri Oct 16th, 2009 at 10:01:20 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I think he was responding to the line

A threat to three US coasts AND to Mexico, Central America and, eventually, to South America as well.

But presumbly it wouldn't be able to survive somewhere on the way down, or it would have made it up to the U.S. by itself anyway.

by gk (g k quattro due due sette "at" gmail.com) on Fri Oct 16th, 2009 at 01:23:34 PM EST
[ Parent ]
And the Burmese Python is the most likely candidate for expansion to Central and South America, although the African Python could also be a possibility there.  Probably depends on how well they adapt to coastal swamp, desert and savanah, though major rivers could provide alternate routes.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Fri Oct 16th, 2009 at 02:58:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]

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