Gator gives python fatal bellyache

It may not pack the star power of Godzilla versus Rodan but it's real and a lot closer to home.

The Associated Press reports that a 13-foot python attempted to swallow whole a 6-foot alligator in the Florida Everglades. It might have gotten away with it, too, except that the gator wasn't quite dead yet. ("Yes, you are," cooed Python. "I'm feeling better," declared Alligator ... oh, stop it!) Suffice to say that a fatal case of indigestion occurred.

And both snake and lizard are reliably and certifiably dead. But don't let that get your hopes up that the python, a relative newcomer to the 'glades, will help keep the gators in check. Biologists say that while the battle between the two species will rage on, the real losers are going to be everything smaller, which is pretty much everything else, including humans.

Where did the Burmese Pythons come from? Well, Burma, of course. But actually they were probably pets that outgrew their owners' affection -- which for the Okahomilist would take about 15 seconds -- and were relocated with love to the Everglades where there are no natural enemies, except for the American alligator who quite literally hates the python's guts.

Pythons could threaten many smaller species that conservationists are trying to protect, including other reptiles, otters, squirrels, woodstorks and sparrows, Mazzotti said.

Wasilewski said a 10- or 20-foot python also could pose a risk to an unwary human, especially a child. He added, however, "I don't think this is an imminent threat. This is not a 'Be afraid, be very afraid' situation.' "

That's easy for you to say.