safe to camp w/ the python problem

[jonahbear2006]

I've been reading about this python problem that florida is having and I am starting to feel concerned about whether or not it will be safe to camp with this going on. They just caught a python in Orange county and I am a little concerned. THAT is NOT what I want to wake up to in the campground. Esp. not being in a tent.

[Jll3Sonex]

Well, we saw some lizards a couple of weeks back, and I had a glimpse of an armadillo. No frogs, snakes, and especially no pythons.

I think the only ones you're really likely to encounter will be fuzzy stuffed ones in the gift shops.

[BigRedDad]

I would not be concerned with a python. People buy them as a pet, find it too much to manage, and just let them out in the wild. The chances of you actually seeing a snake is very low. You are probably more likely to see a snake in the toilet than in the wild in FL. They come up through the pipes and sit in the bowl. Sorry to add more to worry, but I would be more concerned sitting on the pot than the wild.

Most snakes are not aggressive. They prefer to retreat or get in an extremely defensive state. A water moccasin is much different. They are aggressive and will attack and chase.

[medic9016]

As long as you are not camping in the Everglades you will be fine.

[jonahbear2006]

thats what i thought, initially. then i read that they found one in orange county, and another at the bottom of the splash mountain pool. Then started considering that this may be more out of control than they want to admit.

[Ed]

thats what i thought, initially. then i read that they found one in orange county, and another at the bottom of the splash mountain pool. Then started considering that this may be more out of control than they want to admit.

When was that?? There was nothing in the local news about finding one in WDW, and believe me... local media jump all over anything to do with WDW !

The vast majority of the "python problem" exists in the Everglades area, as a previous poster mentioned. That's a good 150 miles south of WDW.

[jonahbear2006]

re-read this. It didnt actually happen. They said it was the idea of this happening that has caused them to be more careful about the problem. sorry for the misinterpretation.

[Ed]

Okay, that got me thinking, and that can be dangerous...

I did a little Google search and found an article that was published in the Miami Herald that included this:

Pythons need culinary PR, not bounties
By FRED GRIMM
[email protected]

In the Philippines, they're rubbed with spices, stuffed with leaves from the palongpong vine and served as cinafa'y feclat.

Cinafa'y feclat not only packs more menu appeal than ''hot roasted python,'' it offers a culinary solution to the infestation of giant snakes threatening to overrun, or rather over-slither, South Florida.

And beyond. Apparently, there's no biological reason keeping Burmese pythons ...from striking out for Disney World and other points north. The U.S. Geological Report concluded that ``roughly a third of the contiguous United States lies within the python's range.''

But I suspect it was the specter of 18-foot baby-gulping constrictors lurking in the pool at the foot of Splash Mountain that prompted state wildlife officials last week to propose paying a bounty for each Burmese python hunters extracted from the Glades.

Bottom line: The writer was speculating about what might happen IF a python found its way to Splash Mountain.

It never happened. Just a writer's vivid imagination triggering rumors.

[Ed]

re-read this. It didnt actually happen. They said it was the idea of this happening that has caused them to be more careful about the problem. sorry for the misinterpretation.

Apparently we were both posting clarification at the same time.

[jonahbear2006]

still seems kind of scary to me, if they find them in orange county,....and although we probably wont be seeing one, I am a worry wort. We def. wont be swimming in ocean water this year; mama is just a little creeped out by all this.

[Jll3Sonex]

It never happened. Just a writer's vivid imagination triggering rumors.

Well, I'm just thinking... if it's a Philipino specialty, would it be served in China or Japan in Epcot? Can't you just see it - a "Fresh Caught" Cinafa'y feclat Stand?

And as far as I know, there's not been any pythons found in the Atlantic - you'll likely be safe, jonahbear2006.

[WDWdriver]

This kind of stuff just cracks me up. As if alligators and hurricanes weren't enough, now we have to worry about pythons? Right. Maybe if we continue to spread the word about these dangers there will be fewer northerners down here spoiling our beaches and jamming up I-4.

[Ed]

I'm glad nobody mentioned the two black bears killed on I-4 last week.

[faline]

Our very first trip to Disney World (I refuse to mention the year) was a camping trip to Fort Wilderness. We drove down in our Ford van and set up our tent.

Before we arrived, we made our reservations via telephone (The reservations line, by the way, was open 24 hours per day, 365 days per year back then!). The only thing I requested was to be as close as possible to a comfort station - little did I know!

Anyway, after making the reservation, we received a packet of information from Disney World. (Remember, this is ancient history, and personal computers were non-existent and the Internet was only a fantasy in sci-fi books!) Our packet included a lovely multi-page color booklet but, more importantly, included some warnings for campers. Specifically, we were told that there were several poisonous snakes prevalant in Florida. Our materials specified the snakes that we could potentially encounter on a camping stay in Florida, told us to stay clear of any snakes we might encounter, and to report them as soon as we could.

Needless to say, as Northerners our most abundant snakes are quite innocent and we generally do not worry about getting bitten by venoumous snakes so were more than a tad bit nervous about taking a 7 year old to a location that posted warnings about a number of potential snake problems.

We went; we camped; we never saw a snake. (Even in multiple camping trips, we never saw a snake.) We have seen deer, opossums, a huge owl, baby alligators, peacocks, horses, and even a giant (though friendly) mouse.

In subsequent visits to Fort Wilderness, we noticed that we never again received explicit notices of potential snake encounters. Wonder why?

By the way, on our first visit, our request of being as close as possible to a comfort station was certainly honored. We found our campsite to be directly across from a comfort station and could walk from our tent to the comfort station as easily as we can walk from one end of our house to the other.

Morale of the story: I wouldn't worry a whole lot about encounters with pythons!

[WDWdriver]

Morale of the story: I wouldn't worry a whole lot about encounters with pythons!

Well said, Linda. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

[jonahbear2006]

I remember the rattlesnake warnings. Though, we have not seen anything but some storks, squirrels, and birds in the campground; in the past. My concern has come from the media, this time. I was never really concerned about snakes or gators before.

[joonyer]

You'll see an alligator at FW (or the rest of WDW) long before you ever run across an escaped python. Alligators are native to Florida and are generally found everywhere there is water. If you want to worry (you shouldn't), worry about something that at least has a realistic possibility of occurring.

[gmgdisneymom]

We have seen peacocks, many armidillos, the usual squirrels, chipmunks, bats, lizards etc but never snakes or alligators.

I also imagine it matter when you go. Snakes are less active at night and in colder weather

[ibrowse17]

In all of our many trips to FW, we have have seen just about everything ( even an otter) but a snake or gator. I guess there has to be a first time, but really would not be that worried about it.

[Laughin' place]

Please dont worry about the snakes or let any concern deter you from going to FtW. I have camped there many times, and "cabin-ed" two or three. The critters there, and the beautiful scenery, are just a few of the many joys you will find there. One of my treasured pictures from a recent trip there is a baby armadillo. I was taking pictures of him crawling along the ground. He came up to my white running shoe, decided it was a good spot (or another armadillo?), and crawled up on my foot for a nap.