Alligators and Pythons

We stumbled across this in the news yesterday.

At first we didn't know quite what to make of it, but after a closer look and some quiet reflection, we couldn't help but notice the parallels between the alligator/python relationship in the Florida Everglades, and the U.S./China relationship in the world economy.

From Yahoo! News

Python Bursts After Trying to Eat Gator

By DENISE KALETTE, Associated Press Writer
Wed Oct 5, 4:04 PM ET

MIAMI - The alligator has some foreign competition at the top of the Everglades food chain, and the results of the struggle are horror-movie messy.

A 13-foot Burmese python recently burst after it apparently tried to swallow a live, six-foot alligator whole, authorities said.


The incident has heightened biologists' fears that the nonnative snakes could threaten a host of other animal species in the Everglades.

"It means nothing in the Everglades is safe from pythons, a top-down predator," said Frank Mazzotti, a University of Florida wildlife professor.

Over the years, many pythons have been abandoned in the Everglades by pet owners.

The gory evidence of the latest gator-python encounter — the fourth documented in the past three years — was discovered and photographed last week by a helicopter pilot and wildlife researcher.

The snake was found with the gator's hindquarters protruding from its midsection. Mazzotti said the alligator may have clawed at the python's stomach as the snake tried to digest it.

In previous incidents, the alligator won or the battle was an apparent draw.

"There had been some hope that alligators can control Burmese pythons," Mazzotti said. "This indicates to me it's going to be an even draw. Sometimes alligators are going to win and sometimes the python will win."

It is unknown how many pythons are competing with the thousands of alligators in the Everglades, but at least 150 have been captured in the past two years, said Joe Wasilewski, a wildlife biologist and crocodile tracker.

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.'"

No, we're not suggesting that America will be eaten by China and that we will attempt to claw our way out as we are being digested, causing China to burst, then ultimately finding our hindquarters protruding from their midsection.

Hmmm... Maybe, we'll come back to that.

The similarities that came to mind when we first read this story had more to do with the struggle for dominance over time. For many, many years, the alligator has sat atop the food chain in the Everglades, much like the U.S. has sat atop the world economy. The python is relatively new on the scene, as China is relatively new in the world economy.

Alligators have become accustomed to their role at the top, perhaps becoming a bit complacent over time - gaining weight, making long-term promises they have no apparent way of keeping, going on far-away adventures in an attempt to improve the Everglades.

Pythons seek to challenge that role. Lean and hungry, with a much humbler background, and not distracted as the alligators are, they are in competition with the alligators for limited natural resources.

The two are sure to tangle from time to time.

While pythons have no known manufacturing capabilities, and neither has a currency, the apparently mistaken expectation that alligators would be able to control the python population is telling.

Perhaps, both sides will have to rethink their approaches - reconsider their respective roles in the Everglades. The two now appear to be battling it out to a draw, with the python seemingly having the upper hand in the last conflict, until both ultimately lost the battle.