News in Brief Ecosystems

Even fast-breeding rabbits can’t withstand Everglades python invasion

Fecund little mammals can’t keep up with voracious reptiles

Burmese python

HOSTILE TAKEOVER  Burmese pythons invading the Everglades turn into such active hunters when the weather warms up that they can overwhelm even fast-breeding populations of small mammals.

Todd Pierson/Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

By Susan Milius

Even breeding like bunnies can’t save some mammals in Everglades National Park from invading Burmese pythons.

When the heat of summer revved up snake activity, the pythons ate up to a fifth of a study population of marsh rabbits each week, researchers report March 18 in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.