Florida scientists used female Burmese pythons as live lures to find invasive males in Everglades

Conservancy biologists with a 16ft, 135lb female Burmese python found while radio-tracking a male scout snake in southwest Florida in February 2025. Florida scientists used female Burmese pythons as live lures to find invasive males in the Everglades, but 3 million camera-trap photos produced only four python detections.A study published in the journal Southeastern Naturalist shows that placing wild-caught female Burmese pythons (Python bivittatus) in cages across the Greater Everglades Ecosystem failed to draw in wild males.Over a 90-day field test at 12 locations, researchers filtered more than three million camera-trap photos using artificial intelligence software. They recorded just three python visits at the cages holding female lures and one visit at empty control cages.The study, titled "Not so fatal attraction: Captive female Burmese Python lures do not improve wild python detection," was written by Alex D. Potash, Maggie Jones, Michael Kirkland, Jenna Cole, Kristen Hart, and Robert A. McCleery. The research record was published by the USGS Publications Warehouse and carried out through the USGS Wetland and Aquatic Research Center.Captivity stress and chemical signalsIn con...