Mommas, don’t let your babies dump their unwanted pythons in the Florida Everglades - because a horrific mess is in store. Recently, a helicopter pilot and wildlife researcher came upon a grizzly scene wherein a 13 foot python had tried to eat a live six foot alligator, and failed miserably. Check out the photo and article here.

They suspect that the still-alive swallowed alligator clawed at the python’s stomach, causing the stomach to rupture and the snake to split in half. Evidently, this is the fourth gator-python encounter documented in the last three years. Over 150 pythons have been captured in the past two years. Wildlife experts worry that the non-native snakes are set to disrupt the ecosystem of the Everglades.

Ecological concerns aside, I happened across an unusual item while researching something totally unrelated. I was reading about Obeah, an Afro-Carribean system of magic, and they mentioned several connections between that tradition and serpent imagery, going back at least to Egypt. Following that thread lead me to the anciently-recognized 13th zodiac sign, Ophiucus, the snake-bearer. Having just looked over this item about the python-gator fight, I thought that was an interesting correlation, so I looked even farther. And guess what I found: yesterday is the 401st anniversary of the Kepler Supernova, also called SN 1604. The reason this is noteworthy is that the cosmic explosion occurred in the constellation Ophiucus. Apparently the supernova is in the foot of the man in the constellation, rather than the snake, but it’s an interesting connection nonetheless - if you’re into trying to read obtuse signs, that is. That said, I wonder what such a symbol could be read as: two great predators whose union causes their mutual destruction. Be sure to check out this photo of the SN 1604, fucking beautiful.