Three hunters capture this huge invasive species in Everglades swamps
Three hunters captured a 16-foot-long, 105-pound python in the Everglades just as they were returning home after a night of searching for the enormous invasive snakes that have become a scourge in South Florida.
Zach Hoffman, Jan Gianello, and Justice Sargood hunted the snake in the early morning hours of May 31 near Everglades City, in Collier County in the southwest of the state.
Hoffman said they decided to check one last spot on the way home when they suddenly saw what looked like a shadow. They immediately jumped out of the truck and ran toward the snake that was between the road and the ditch.
Sargood held the python by the head and began wrestling with it.
'Jan and I controlled the rest of the body so it wouldn't coil too tightly. Once we had control of the snake, we ethically removed it. Then we realized what we had just caught,' Hoffman told the Naples Daily News.
Read more: Do you want to help protect the Everglades ecosystem and win up to $10,000?
The trio has been hunting the monstrous snakes for three years, and as of last May, the largest they had caught measured 10 feet, 2 inches, he said.
The three have captured more than 100 pythons.
Another group of python hunters captured the longest Burmese python ever measured on July 10, 2023, in Big Cypress National Preserve in eastern Collier County. It measured 19 feet.
Burmese pythons have a negative impact on native species. They are primarily found in and around the Everglades ecosystem in South Florida, where they feed on birds, mammals and other reptiles.
These snakes were first found in the Everglades swamps in 1979 in Miami-Dade County and are believed to have been released or escaped from captivity. A breeding population was confirmed in the early 2000s, and the snake was recognized as an established invasive species.
They are found in Broward, Palm Beach, and Monroe counties, and on the southwest coast of Florida.
Since 2000, more than 23,000 Burmese pythons have been removed from Florida's natural habitat, according to data from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Burmese pythons are aggressive predators that disrupt the food chain, affecting native birds, mammals, and reptiles. A single female can lay more than 100 eggs at a time, which accelerates their spread.
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