NAPLES, Fla. (WSVN) — The results of the python hunting season are in, and this year, the team at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida broke records after they took down a 17-foot python.
What started as a lesson on how to properly capture a python turned into a record-breaking discovery.
While training an intern, biologist Ian Bartoszek with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida captured a 17-foot, 153-pound female python near Naples, making it the team’s largest python of the season.
“You’d be surprised; it’s fairly easy to wrangle a predator of 150 pounds or more if you have a little bit of training,” he said.
Just this year, the Conservancy reported the milestone removal of more than 6300 pounds of invasive snakes from a 200-mile area near Naples.
The python hunting season started in November and ended in April, the species’ breeding season.
“According to scientists, their main targets are females. Any female averaging over 12 feet will have more than 46 eggs. We’ve seen upwards of 120 developing eggs in pythons,” Bartoszek said. “The whole reason here at the Conservancy we’re laser-focused on this problem is because the Burmese python is eating its way through the food chain. I have seen a 10-pound python eat a six-pound fawn.”
Through its more than 10 years of history, the team has been recognized for capturing the largest male python ever on record, at about 140 pounds, and the largest female python ever, weighing 215 pounds.
Bartoszek, however, says their work is far from over.
“It’s going to take an advancement of technologies and tools to really get after this problem Everglades-wide,” he said.
If you or anyone you know happens to come across a python or any other nonnative species, do not hesitate to contact the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission here or call the Invasive Species Hotline at 888-Ive-Got1 (483-4681).
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