Florida Wrestles with Its Python Problem

Floridians are generally not flummoxed by the variety of reptile species invading their state. Even when pythons started turning up on the peninsula in large numbers a few years ago, most residents laughed off the huge, not-native snakes as yet another imported nuisance, little worse than some condo developers. But that nonchalance vanished in a heartbeat last week when 2-year-old Shaiunna Hare was strangled to death in her crib by a 9-foot-long Burmese python kept as a pet, illegally, ...