DAVIE, FLA. (WSVN) - A snake wrangler captured a python, Friday, and found scores of its eggs in Davie.
Python hunter John Hammond said he found 40 eggs after capturing the snake. “They all get mean when you grab ’em,” he said.
Hammond is a Florida Wildlife Conservation contractor who helps clear the Florida Everglades of the invasive species. “They’re eating stuff that our native animals should be eating,” he said. “They’re eating rabbits, they’re eating mice. They’re eating stuff that our foxes would be eating or whatever else is out there.”
“They’re very opportunistic on what they eat, so a small or medium mammal that comes across their path, if they are hungry, they will go after it and swallow it,” said Evan Freeman of the FWC. “You can see an impact out in our native Everglades.
This particular python capture was near Everglades Holiday Park.
If those eggs had hatched, officials said, hundreds or even thousands more pythons could have added to the population of the invasive species in the Everglades.
However, Hammond’s capture did not come without a fight. The python hunter endured a bite while walking about a mile in order to turn her in to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials.
When asked why Hammond does his job, he said, “To save the Everglades.”
The python was 12 feet long, weighed a little over 40 pounds. However, this pales in comparison to a python that was found in April, when hunters found a python that weighed over 150 pounds.
The python and her eggs will be put down humanely.
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