Invasive pythons hatching throughout southwest Florida

FILE 2013: A previously captured 13-foot Burmese python is taken out of a bag for a press to viewing in the Everglades, Florida. (Reuters)

NAPLES, Fla. – Wildlife experts say Burmese python eggs are hatching throughout southwest Florida, and they're asking the public to report any sightings of the invasive snakes.

Pythons have been blamed for dramatic drops in the populations of native mammals in Florida's Everglades. They've also been known to kill and eat large alligators.

Ian Bartoszek of the Conservancy of Southwest Florida tells WINK-TV that python hatchlings can already be 2 feet long when they emerge from their eggs, and they'll cross roads in search of food and water.

Bartoszek is asking people to report any python sightings to the state's invasive species hotline, 1-888-IVE-GOT1 or www.ivegot1.org . He says experts are trying to document how pythons are expanding their range.

Little is known about pythons' movements in their native habitat in Asia.