Archives of The Cold Blooded News

The Newsletter of the Colorado Herpetological Society

Volume 32, Number 8;   August, 2005

Detection Dog Used to Track Alien Burmese Pythons in Everglades

Miami: A detection dog is sniffing out an unusual problem -- his specialty, Burmese Pythons. Because so many non-native snakes have been released by pet owners in South Florida, the population of [these] snakes is growing, especially in the Everglades.

Now, a one-year-old beagle, nicknamed Python Pete, is hot on the trail of the snakes. Pete's owner and handler is wildlife technician Lori Oberhofer. She bought Pete from a Missouri breeder and had him shipped to Florida. "Beagles are used around the world," Oberhofer said. "They have a great sense of smell."

Oberhofer tests Pete's skills often by dragging snakes in a mesh bag through the grass, leaving a scent trail for Pete to track. "I don't want him to get there before me, [so he is] on a short leash so when he sees a python I [can] see him and I can pull him back," Oberhofer said.

His twice-a-week training sessions should be finished by this winter, when it's expected that Python Pete will be ready to spring into action on a regular basis. Once he finds snakes in the Everglades, they will be removed. From the mid-1990s to 2003, more than 50 Burmese Pythons were caught [in the park]. But with the surge in the snake population, last year alone 61 of the snakes were taken out of the park. The plan is to use Pete around park roads and trails where the snakes are most likely to run into people.