It's always good to know that when you have a problem or are in trouble there is someone close by who will quickly be there when you call. I can personally attest to the rapid response of our local EMT's after my visit to the ER last Thanksgiving when I had double pneumonia. The EMT team was at my door in less than 10 minutes after The Man called 911. These young men and women were great ! I also know that when my cousin fell in her driveway this past weekend and her little dog barked its head off until a neighbor thought to come out and see what the dog was barking at, the rapid response of her local fire station was excellent. I am very happy to know that I live somewhere that provides me with such good emergency services.
But it seems that I and my fellow south Floridians are not the only ones who require Rapid Responders. In fact there was an article in todays Palm Beach Post that addressed this other group of residents of our lovely sunshine state. . . The Python snakes.
If you have been keeping up on South Florida news over the past couple of years you probably have seen many stories about the invasive species of Python snakes that are taking over the Everglades. Some where in the not so distant past some well meaning idiot bought themselves a snake for a pet and when it got too large to keep in an aquarium or their bathtub, (because you know there is someone out there with a snake living in their bathtub), the well meaning idiot thought, "I'll just take Waldo, (or what ever the snakes name was), out into the Everglades and let it go. With a fond farewell and a hearty "live long and prosper" the snake slithered off into the wet, marshy swamp.
Now had the idiot who bought the snake given any thought to the fact that pythons can live an average of 30 years and grow to a length of 30 feet and are NOT native to Florida, perhaps the idiot would have found a better way to rid himself of the very foolish choice of pets. But then again, being an idiot, (because who else would want to spend money on a snake for a pet), he or she never gave a second thought to what they were doing.
Bottom line is that Florida Everglades is becoming over run with python snakes. Because they are not native to the area they have no natural enemies who can keep their population under control. Instead they slither through the swamp eating everything and anything they find which is pretty much any other living creature. Even the alligators are in jeopardy. Poor little alligators! The state has set up python hunting seasons and python round ups where monetary rewards are given to the person who brings in the largest snake dead or alive, (preferably dead). But what happens when it is "off season" for pythons and one is spotted sunning itself on a small patch of dry(ish) ground? What do you do? Who do you call? (No, Not Ghostbusters!) . . . why you call the RAPID RESPONDER UNIT !
Yes, Florida has a rapid responder unit just for the purpose of catching unsuspecting pythons. THAT is what the article in todays paper was all about. It seems that a renegade python has found its way north of the Everglades and is taking up residence in a nature preserve in North Palm Beach County. The snake was spotted over the weekend so a call went out immediately to the rapid response unit whose job it is to find the elusive creature, capture it and do God knows what with it. (Maybe our government can put it on a bus and ship it to Kansas or where ever with all the other illegal immigrants.) Only problem is that the rapid response unit can only get into the swamp by helicopter or airboat and by the time they were able to deploy either of those means of transportation the sneaky little snake had slithered away. To quote the paper, "It was several hours until the team was able to get to where the snake was spotted".
I think the team needs to find a different name because RAPID response unit just doesn't seem to apply here.
I wonder if the python was having a heart attack would the rapid responders get to it any faster?
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