Q&A on the News

Q: We know that pythons have invaded Florida and the Everglades. How does winter weather affect their migration into other states? Can this severe weather kill pythons?

—Jim Frisbie, Waialua, Hawaii

A: Cold weather can kill Burmese pythons, which are not native to the U.S., as evidenced by a period of low temperatures in South Florida in January 2010. Pythons died from severe cold and respiratory infections, among other reasons, or became incapacitated when temperatures dropped to the 30s and 40s. "During that time, and for several months afterwards, dead and dying pythons were encountered throughout the greater Everglades," Carli Segelson, a spokeswoman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, told Q&A on the News in an email. Based on these observations, she wrote, it's not likely that Burmese pythons "could establish north of the Central Florida area, much less spread out of the state." One study relocated 10 Burmese pythons from the Everglades to an outdoor research facility in South Carolina in June 2009. All died by January 2010, but they had not been acclimated to the state's colder weather before being exposed to appreciably colder than typical winters in South Carolina, the study stated.

Q: What does Dexter King do in Malibu? Does he have a job? A family?

—Al Cooper, Atlanta

Q: King, the youngest son of Coretta Scott King and Martin Luther King Jr., is the chairman of the King Center. He is intensely private, but he married Leah Weber in California last June. King, who wrote "Growing Up King: An Intimate Memoir," has lived in Malibu, Calif., for several years.