Hunters capture record 19-foot long female Burmese python in Florida
WeirdNews
Officials measured the snake at 19 feet and it set a new world record
FLORIDA (Web Desk) - Snake hunters captured a record 19-foot-long Burmese python in South Florida’s Big Cypress National Preserve — as long as the height of an adult male giraffe.
The mighty snake is currently under examination at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida in Naples.
A student Jake Waleri captured the snake, which is, so far, the longest-female Burmese python ever caught by anyone.
"I knew we were capable of it but I didn't know it would happen," Waleri said. "Last year my cousin and I caught a snake that was almost 18 feet long, and we realised we could handle a snake of that size."
Officials measured the snake at 19 feet and 125 pounds and said it "set a new world record for length".
The python and Waleri both struggled on the ground until people joined in to help peel the snake off the hunter.
The Burmese pythons are one of the largest snakes on the planet, and also found in southern Florida, preying upon local animals and feasting on them.
There is no predator which can hunt the python in Florida and it led Waleri to spend nights hunting these reptiles.
"It's awesome to be able to make an impact on South Florida's environment," he said in the news release.
"We love this ecosystem and try to preserve it as much as possible." The earlier record was set by a python caught in the Everglades in 2020 which was 18 feet-9 inches and weighed 104 pounds.
According to the conservancy, the record for the heaviest Burmese python ever captured was set by one caught by the Conservancy in June 2022, at a whopping 215 pounds.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission noted that these pythons are a big threat and therefore hunters and residents alike don't need a permit to kill them.
Despite this, the reptiles are protected by anti-cruelty laws, requiring hunters to kill the snakes humanely.
The reptiles are native to grassy marshes and jungles in Southeast Asia. They can grow up to 23 feet or more, and their diets consist primarily of small mammals and birds.
They kill by constriction, and grasping their prey with their teeth while coiling their bodies around it and squeezing until suffocation.
