The largest python ever seen in Florida was lured out of its hiding place by researchers who used another python as bait.
The largest python ever found in the state weighed 215 pounds and was almost 18 feet long. The average length of a python in Florida is between 6 and 10 feet, although in their native habitats in Southeast Asia, the largest can reach 20 feet.
The pythons have successfully bred in the southern regions of Florida, where they prey on many native birds and mammals, as well as the occasional alligator or pet dog.
Despite being larger than most of Florida's native snake species, Burmese pythons are extremely difficult to spot within the vast marshlands, woodlands and the surrounding areas. The Conservancy of Southwest Florida, a Naples-based organization, is trying to reduce the population of pythons by implanting gps tracker in male pythons and then sending them into the wild.
This video shows a python swallowing an impala.
Sarah Funck, a Biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, told National Geographic that large female pythons are important to remove from the environment because they are disproportionately capable of reproducing.
The record-setting female that the team captured was baited by a scout snake named Dionysus.
The team noticed that Dion was in a location near Naples. When they went to check on their scout snake, they found him coiled near a monstrous female; after an intense wrestling match, the researchers managed to wrangle the huge female into a bag and transport it to their research facility. Dion was able to survive the encounter and continue scouting for the Conservancy.
A necropsy was performed on the large python after it was euthanized. They found a record 122 eggs inside its body. The python's last meal was an adult white-tailed deer, and bits of fur, clumps of dissolved bone and a chunk of a hoof were found in the snake's stomach.
According to National Geographic, pythons prey on an estimated 24 mammal species, 47 bird species and two reptile species in Florida.
According to National Geographic, an ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey said that the pythons have the ability to completely change the environment.
At natgeo.com, you can read more about the record-breaking python.
It was originally published on Live Science
All Rights Reserved © 2024
