article_snippet: The zoo's snakes are never fed live food in order to protect The zoo's snakes safety. '
article_snippet: And live food, even rabbits, can severely bite the face of a snake.
article_snippet: The non-venomous snakes, who kill and eat their prey by constriction, have decimated the park's mammal population, consuming more than 99 percent of raccoons and 88 percent of bobcats, according to the Washington Post.
article_snippet: Instead pythons'd rather feast on small mammals and birds, but are known to eat deers and alligators as well.
article_snippet: Pythons captured in the park are typically euthanized.
article_snippet: Maloney said the zoo, which carries a rock python that was caught in the Everglades, tries to provide homes for wild snakes if they can - but there often isn't the space to house such large animals.
article_snippet: And wild snakes aren't easy to find.
article_snippet: the U.S. National Park Service said trapping methods are often ineffective, meaning the reptiles must be detected and removed by search and hand.
article_snippet: But for now, Maloney said the zoo wants to celebrate snakes and their history. '
article_snippet: We think of snakes as being positive members of the animal kingdom,' Maloney said. '