One place that they are able to survive is southern Florida. With its general lack of freezing temperatures and high rainfall, southern Florida has become a new home to a plethora of introduced tropical species. From ponds and lakes hosting fish species from around the world, to large marine toads taking up residency in the backyards of Miami, to 6-foot Nile monitors roaming the neighborhoods of Cape Coral, the number of introduced exotic species establishing themselves in Florida is increasing yearly. Released from roadsides and parking sites in the Everglades, Burmese pythons have not only survived, they have grown, found each other, and reproduced. As a new top predator in the Everglades, each of the python’s potential prey species is at risk. To date, Skip Snow has recorded from the stomachs and intestines of over 100 pythons captured in the Everglades the presence of at least six bird species, including grebes and ibises, a dozen different mammals, including raccoons and bobcats, and now added to the list, alligators. It may only be the larger alligators that are safe from the coils of the python. Is there hope to control or eradicate pythons from the Everglades? It is going to be a very tough battle for two reasons. First, the Everglades Park is vast, much of it is remote, and there are large tracts of dense vegetation. The efforts of Skip Snow and his colleagues to capture and remove pythons may only be effective near roads and areas of easy access. For much of the Everglades, pythons are going to be free from any human contact. Second, pythons are now more popular as pets than ever. Each year, tens of thousands of pythons are imported into the U.S. or bred for the hobbyist. Whereas the popularity of the Burmese python has wavered recently, large numbers of ball, blood, and reticulated pythons are being sold. While ball and blood pythons only reach 6 feet in length and are less apt to out grow their homes and thus be released, the reticulated python is the longest snake in the world. There are as many pet reticulated pythons being sold today as there were pet Burmese pythons being sold15 years ago. If history repeats itself, reticulated pythons could become another addition to the top end of the Everglades’ food chain. So what really happened? We honestly don’t know what happened in September of 2005. From our investigative photos, we concurred that the python had eaten the alligator. Within a couple of days of doing so the python, dead or alive, had been attacked by another animal—most likely a much larger alligator. Also, the python had been dead for at least one day before being discovered. What we were not able to decipher was exactly how long the alligator had been in the python’s stomach, if another predator had killed the snake, or if it had died prior to that encounter because it was unable to digest the alligator. What we do have are the photos taken after the fact, the observations of Mike Barron and Skip Snow, and the knowledge of scientists. Like in any crime story, there is crucial information withheld from the public. In this case, the withheld information includes (1) that when the alligator was pulled out from inside the snake, its skull showed signs of being digested, (2) the python’s skull was crushed and in fact was denuded of soft tissue due to the scavenging by small fish and crayfish, (3) there were several fresh bite wounds on the python, and (4) the python has sustained a large wound days, even weeks, before consuming the alligator. So, here is one possible scenario. Sometime in August or September the python receives a large wound from another predator, possible another alligator, at a site about a third of the way back on the snake’s body from its head. While the edge of the wound was healing, the inner region of the wound, due to the lack of adequate blood supply, became necrotic as the tissue died. The wound though was not severe enough to prevent the python from killing and swallowing the 6 ft alligator. A day or so later, another alligator encounters and attacks the python. This alligator bites the python at several sites, including where the old wound was festering and produces a large opening in the side of the python. In the struggle, the alligator bites and crushes the python’s head and in pulling on the python’s head the hindlimbs and tail of the swallowed alligator become exposed through the large open wound. The alligator then leaves the dead snake (possibly to return later) and after a day or two of bloating and decomposing, the snake and alligator are spotted by Mike Barron while flying overhead. While this is a hypothetical chain of events, there are still several questions we haven’t been able to answer. First, if a large alligator did kill the python, then why did it not eat it? Besides the crushed head and the large open wound, the only other wound was about two-thirds back on the body, with the rest of the snake intact. Was the alligator waiting for the snake to become more tender from decomposition before feasting, a behavior practiced by their crocodile cousins? Second, why wasn’t the python picked cleaned by scavengers? Patrolling the skies of the Everglades are vultures and ravens ready to make short work of any dead, decaying animal. It is hard to imagine that they missed seeing and smelling a dead 13-ft snake and a dead 6-ft alligator. Maybe they did, or maybe they were chased off by the large alligator protecting its meal. We will never know exactly what happened in September of 2005 in the struggle between python and alligator; it will always remain a mystery. What we can imagine is that this struggle will be played out again and again in the Everglades each time the paths of these two predators cross.