Python Apparently Swallows Family's 15-Pound Cat

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- Elidia Rodriguez, of Miami Gardens, had been looking for her 1-year-old Siamese cat for two days when her son pointed out the bulging Burmese python slithering in her back yard.

Experts said that bulge in the 12-foot snake is probably the missing 15-pound cat. Rodriguez got the cat last year as a post-hurricane gift. She named the cat Frances, after the storm.

The snake was spotted in Rodriguez's back yard Sunday.

Experts with the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue antivenin unit said Frances wouldn't have stood a chance against the larger predator.

The snake was captured and taken to the Sense of Wonder Nature Center at AD Barnes National Park

Earlier this month, authorities say a 13-foot python burst after it apparently tried to swallow a live, 6-foot alligator whole. Link

when her son pointed out the bulging Burmese python slithering in her back yard.

I loved this line. I just get this picture of the woman hunting all over for the cat, and her son going, "you know mom, see that big snake there in the back yard, yeah the one with the big lump in it, I'm thinking there might be a connection there."
It's almost like the presence of the snake wasn't the unusual part, but the bulge that got their interest.

Just leave it to the dingbats here with me in Florida.....
Average IQ of Floridians= room temperature

MIAMI -- An X-ray of a bulge in a python shows that it ate a cat, according to a veterinarian.

<HR>Slideshow: X-Ray Shows Python Ate Cat
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Python X-Ray Shows Cat
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Elidia Rodriguez, of Miami Gardens, Fla., had been looking for her 1-year-old Siamese cat for two days when her son found a bulging Burmese python slithering in her back yard. Authorities captured the snake and took it to a nature park.

Veterinarian William Chavez said an X-ray shows evidence that the bulge in the python was indeed from a cat it had eaten.

"Something killed a cat and swallowed it," Chavez said.

Experts say the number of exotic animals found in Florida is growing because owners buy them and then release them into the wild when they grow too big.

http://www.nbc4i.com/news/5085258/detail.html