For thirty years, Washington, DC ignored an Asian super-predator dismantling the Everglades ecosystem while bureaucrats wrote reports.
A woman was killed by an alligator in a Florida river this summer – the second fatal attack in the state in less than twelve months.
But now Ron DeSantis is fighting back – and what he found in that swamp is going to shock you.
Washington Ignored This for Thirty Years
Here's what the federal government let happen while nobody was paying attention.
In 1992, Hurricane Andrew destroyed a Burmese python breeding facility near the Everglades.
Snakes poured into the swamp.
Washington, DC shrugged.
The exotic pet trade kept importing them.
Washington, DC shrugged again.
For the next three decades, a non-native apex predator from Southeast Asia quietly dismantled one of the most important ecosystems in the United States.
The numbers are staggering.
https://twitter.com/RepWilson/status/2094539150888235339?s=20
Since the pythons established a breeding population, raccoon numbers in the Everglades have crashed 99.3 percent.
Opossums are down 98.9 percent.
Bobcats are down 87.5 percent.
Marsh rabbits, cottontail rabbits, and foxes are effectively gone from invaded areas.
Wading birds – the Everglades' signature wildlife – were found dead in python stomachs.
Endangered Florida panthers are now competing with an invasive predator for the same depleted prey.
Wildlife biologists estimate hunters catch roughly 1 percent of the actual python population.
One percent.
Between November 2025 and April 2026, conservationists pulled 177 pythons weighing 8,080 pounds from a single 200-square-mile patch of Collier County.
The 2026 Florida Python Challenge brought 907 participants and removed 280 snakes in ten days.
Twenty tons of snakes hauled out since 2013.
Tens of thousands remain.
These snakes grow past 18 feet and can swallow prey equal to 100 percent of their own body weight.
They have no natural predators in Florida.
A single female lays up to 100 eggs.
https://twitter.com/EvergladesNPS/status/2090046263538352461?s=20
DeSantis called them an "apex predator" and declared Everglades restoration the "biggest environmental project in the history of the country."
He's right.
Washington, DC spent thirty years proving him right by doing almost nothing.
What's Actually Living in That Water
Every family planning a Florida vacation needs to understand what shares those waterways with them.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission warns every visitor to treat any body of water in Florida as potential alligator habitat – not just the Everglades, but any water anywhere in the state.
More than 1.3 million alligators are spread across all 67 Florida counties.
In 2025, there were 13 attacks statewide, two of them fatal.
Summer 2026 has already added four more, one fatal.
Alligators are ambush predators.
They wait almost completely submerged before exploding from the water.
Their bite force exceeds 2,980 pounds per square inch – stronger than any living animal.
They hit 35 miles per hour on land before you've processed what you're looking at.
The Everglades is also one of the only places on Earth where you'll find the American crocodile living alongside the alligator.
The crocodile has a narrower snout, a greyish-green body, and prefers the brackish and saltwater zones of the mangrove swamps.
Generally more reclusive – but reclusive doesn't mean harmless.
Both species become significantly more aggressive from April through July.
That's mating season.
That's also when most families visit Florida.
The Rest of the Predator List
The eastern diamondback rattlesnake – the largest rattlesnake species in the world – is at home throughout the Everglades.
So is the Florida cottonmouth, also called the water moccasin.
Young cottonmouths are frequently mistaken for harmless water snakes – a mistake that ends badly.
When threatened, the cottonmouth doesn't retreat. It coils, raises its head, and opens its mouth to show the white interior that gave the species its name.
Its venom causes severe tissue destruction, internal bleeding, and organ damage.
The Florida black bear reaches 450 pounds, climbs 30 feet up a tree in 30 seconds, runs at 35 miles per hour, and can detect an odor from a mile away.
https://twitter.com/everglades/status/2094526923514708393?s=20
Attacks on humans are rare – until a bear discovers an easy food source. Garbage, pet food, bird feeders.
Keep your campsite clean. And if a bear stands on its hind legs, it isn't preparing to charge.
It's getting a better look at you. Don't run.
The bull shark rounds out the predator list in a way most visitors never expect.
These stocky, ten-foot sharks can tolerate freshwater indefinitely and have traveled hundreds of miles inland through river systems.
The shallow estuaries where families wade and fish double as nursery habitat for juvenile bull sharks.
They're considered one of the most dangerous shark species to humans, with documented unprovoked attacks worldwide.
What You Need to Know Before You Go
Don't swim outside designated areas.
Don't fish with children at the water's edge.
Don't feed any animal.
Don't let your dog near the shoreline.
If you're kayaking, keep your hands and feet in the boat. Stay on marked trails and don't reach into vegetation you can't see through.
https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/1980717760939454791?s=20
The 2026 alligator attack spike has a specific cause: drought conditions are pushing animals into parking lots, pools, and resort areas across the state. Reduced habitat means more contact.
The Everglades is one of the most extraordinary places in the country.
It's also a genuine wilderness that Washington, DC mismanaged for thirty years while an invasive predator dismantled everything living in it.
DeSantis is finally fighting back.
The pythons are still winning.
Your family can visit safely – just go in knowing what you're walking into.
Sources:
- Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, "Alligator Attacks," FWC, 2026.
- "3 Gator Attacks Reported in Florida in 2026: Here's Why," NBC Miami, July 13, 2026.
- "Woman Killed by Alligator While Swimming in Florida River," CBS Miami, June 30, 2026.
- "8,000 Pounds of Invasive Burmese Python Removed from the Florida Everglades," Popular Science, June 23, 2026.
- "Florida's Burmese Python Problem So Bad That a Record Hunt Barely Made a Dent," The Cooldown, June 5, 2026.
- "Alligator Attacks in Florida Are Spiking: Safety Rules Every Visitor Needs," Travelers Today, July 25, 2026.
- Ron DeSantis, Python Challenge Press Conference, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, October 2025.
