Burmese python weighing 198 pounds is captured in Florida by snake wranglers: Watch

Snake hunters out on a mission in the Florida Everglades came across a visitor larger than your average garden snake.

The hobbyists posted images of the giant to Instagram last week after going on what they called a "python hunt" during Flordia's recent cold snap. While they expected to encounter some kind of sizeable reptile on their endeavor, they were not expecting to stumble across a real life giant.

In the video taken by the brave snake wranglers, one man can be heard saying "I'm gonna need help" when taking in the sheer size of his opponent, while another man eventually encourages his companions to "let it go," seemingly realizing they have to recalibrate in order to secure the animal.

Weighing just shy of 200 pounds and measuring in at 17-foot-2-inches, the serpentine was named the second heaviest python ever recorded in Florida, according to the Conservancy of Southwest Florida.

The heaviest python ever caught in Florida was captured in 2022 in the western Everglades and weighed in at 215 pounds and nearly 18 feet long.

Naples Daily News, a part of the USA TODAY network, reported that the python was found in Big Cypress Preserve on a mission led by conservationist Mike Elfenbein, who posted on his Instagram saying: "Officially 17’2” & 198 Pounds. This snake ate a lot of native wildlife to get this big. She ate her last meal! It took five of us to control her, glad to have removed her from our Everglades where she can no longer eat our wildlife."

It was also reported that the remains of a white tail deer were found inside the snack's stomach after it underwent necropsies, a finding that is not uncommon. Because these pythons are invasive to the area, they pose a major risk to local wildlife and the health of Florida's ecosystems. Catching and removing them is therefore an important part of conservation efforts.

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What is a Burmese python?

According to the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Insititute, the Burmese python is the largest subspecies of the Indian python and one of the six largest snakes in the world.

The average Burmese python measures in at 16 feet, though they can grow up to 22 feet long in captivity. They generally prey upon mammals, birds and reptiles using a jaw that separates to allow them to consume animals four to five times the size of their own heads. They can live up to 30 years in the wild.

Burmese pythons are originally native to southern China, Burma, Indochina, Thailand and the Malay Archipelago and are attracted to environments with permanent water sources, such as rainforests with streams and swamps. However, they can also survive in a variety of habits including grasslands and rocky foothills.

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How did Burmese pythons end up in Florida?

Between 1996 to 2006, roughly 99,000 pythons were brought to the U.S. to be sold as pets. 

Many of these snakes either escaped or were released by their owners, successfully reproducing to create a population that is now considered invasive in the Florida Everglades. They have few natural predators in the sunshine state, meaning they are able to flourish and disrupt the food supplies of native animals such as racoons, opossums, and bobcats.

Animals they often pray on, including marsh rabbits, cottontail rabbits, and foxes, have nearly disappeared from the Everglades since the pythons' introduction.