Despite much fanfare and some 1,600 registered snake hunters, the FWC’s 2013 Python Challenge ended with just 68 of the invasive reptiles bagged. That’s going to give some folks the wrong idea: Maybe there aren’t really that many pythons in the Everglades, and maybe the problem isn’t so bad after all.

Don’t you believe it. According to a June 2012 paper, “Severe mammal declines coincide with proliferation of invasive Burmese pythons in Everglades National Park,” not only are the pythons present is frightening numbers, they’re also putting the squeeze on our native mammals.