A large group of pythons have been pictured in a bizarre ball formation while mating at the same time.
The serpents were found in a compromising position by a group of conservationists, who found one female and four males embroiled in the act.
The Burmese pythons were discovered by the group in the Everglades, a wetland in Florida after they had tagged a male for research.
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Following the snakes on the tracker, they found him rolled up in a seven-foot-wide mating ball.
Two other males were found near the cluster.
Ian Bartoszek, a biologist at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, described it as “an impressive sight to see a large breeding aggregation of pythons in the wild”.
He and his colleagues have been working on the program since 2013, which involves adult male pythons being tagged with a radio transmitter and then released as “scout snakes” to lead researchers to other pythons during the breeding season in early spring.
The newfound snakes are then removed from the wild, with the primary goal of preventing breeding females from producing more offspring.
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The “scout snakes” are then left in the wild to lead the trackers to more pythons.
To date, the program has led the conservationists to remove 1,300 pythons across public and private land in southwestern Florida.
From this expedition, the team captured a total of 11 pythons with a combined weight of more than 500 lbs.
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A spokesperson for the Conservancy of Southwest Florida said: “Florida is home to thousands of non-native species of plants and animals.
“When these introduced species reproduce in the wild and cause economic, social, or ecological disturbance, they reach invasive status.
“We have responded to the emerging threat of invasive species by focusing research and removal efforts on critical invasive species for the bio-region, such as the Burmese python.”
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