Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Native snakes have another enemy, and it’s spreading
COVID-19 patients aren’t the only ones struggling to breathe right now. Native Florida snakes have once again fallen victim to Burmese pythons — more specifically, a freeloading lung parasite the invasive species brought over from Southeast Asia.
This parasite is so infectious, native snakes are already spreading it on their own outside of python territory, moving north through Florida and threatening to invade other states.
Raillietiella orientalis is the creature in question.
These worm-looking parasites enter snakes through their prey. Once inside a lung, they leech nutrients from the snake’s blood, mature into adults and lay eggs. The eggs are pooped out by the snake and enter the surrounding environment. Frogs and other amphibians unknowingly consume them before being consumed themselves by other snakes, and the cycle repeats.
Melissa Miller, invasive species research coordinator at the University of Florida’s Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center, discovered the parasite in South Florida pythons in 2017. Her followup research, published June 24 in ecology journal Ecosphere, sounds the alarm of just how problematic the arthropods may become.
“It has potential to spread very, very far,” she said. “It’s exciting findings but very bad for the environment.”
Snakes are critical to the
Florida ecosystem. They keep local rodent populations in check, and in turn, they feed birds, mammals and other reptiles. Though frog- and lizard-eating snakes are most affected by the parasite, Miller said, previously threatened species like the eastern indigo snake are also being stressed.
Miller found three infected snakes outside of Burmese pythons’ range in Polk and Lake counties. She said she believes the parasite won’t be limited to Central and even North Florida in the future.
“Pythons are always thought of as a Florida problem,” she said, “but this study shows that the impacts of pythons can be felt outside of their range.”
The leeching creatures typically don’t kill their hosts because they rely on their blood for food, but the parasites have been found to cause breathing problems and halted reproduction in other host species.
Terence Farrell, biology professor at Stetson University, explained that the main problem these parasites pose to snakes is energy loss. And because native snakes have no experience with the new parasite, their symptoms are stronger than those of the Burmese pythons who have adapted to host the arthropods over time.
Miller’s research shows that native snakes not only have more parasites than the pythons, they have bigger parasites as well. That means more blood loss and energy drain on the snake in the best of circumstances, Farrell said. Worst case, the parasites overtax their new hosts and kill them.
“It’s a big conservation concern,” he said. “Our snakes don’t have any history with these parasites, and it’s in these situations where we tend to see the worst possible outcome.”
Farrell related the native snakes’ situation to the current COVID-19 pandemic humans face. Travelers spread coronavirus to new continents just like Burmese pythons spread this new parasite. And like a human with no antibodies against COVID-19, Florida’s native snakes have no protection against R. orientalis.
“I don’t like to be negative,” the professor said, “but at this point … the genie’s out of the bottle. Or worse, Pandora’s box is open.”
Both scientists agree more research must be done on the parasite to fully determine its life cycle and how to stop its spread in the U.S. For now, there isn’t much you can do to help other than leaving animals in their native habitats and reporting invasive species you find to Florida’s hotline, 1-888-IVEGOT1.