This is the fifth and last in a series of Burmese python predation events taking place in this tunnel, this one at 12/04/22 at 19:20. There is a gif in this observation, so it is best viewed on a desktop since they don't load on the app. This is part of a series of observations of the same snake consuming or attempting to consume Key Largo cotton in the Florida Keys. There is also a gif summarizing most of the sequence at the end.

First fully documented instance of a Burmese python striking at, subduing, and consuming an animal in its invasive range. All on camera! This python struck 5 times at Key Largo cotton mice within an old network of pipes, two of strikes were successful. During one evening, the snake successfully consumed one mouse, and attempted to eat a second shortly after. These cotton mice are less than 1% of this python's biomass. Which shows that even large snakes are eating very small prey items when present.

The Key Largo cotton mouse is a federally endangered subspecies of cotton mouse found only in Key Largo, so this series of events is particularly concerning for the future of these animals. Key Largo woodrats, another federally protected rodent, were also found in this tunnel. They have a much lower fecundity than KLCM and are a frequent item found in the gut content of pythons pulled from Key Largo.

All of this information and more can be found in "Telescoping prey selection in invasive Burmese pythons spells trouble for endangered rodents" -https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1hZm58MrlBCxKm

This is also my first publication so I'm quite proud of it.