Florida Conservationist and His Son Capture Record-Setting, 198-Pound Burmese Python

Declan Gallagher
·2 min read
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Snake hunters in Florida made a record-breaking catch when they corralled a titanic 17-foot, 198-pound Burmese python in Big Cypress National Park. The Florida Wildlife Commission confirms it’s the second-biggest snake ever caught in the state, reported local station WPLG 10.

Conservationist Mike Elfenbein and his 17-year-old son, Cole, set out to find invasive snakes in Ochopee’s sprawling, 729-acre park last Friday night. When they stumbled upon the gargantuan predator as it crossed the road, neither Elfenbein knew what to do. One man in a pickup truck stopped to assist, but the Burmese began dragging the unlucky man towards a canal.

Luckily, three more hikers in the vicinity joined the men in trying to pin the Burmese. They battled the massive beast for nearly 45 minutes. "I grabbed her by the head, which was the size of a football.” Elfenbein recounted to WPLG 10. “I stretched her in one direction, my son stretched her in the other, and the other three guys jumped on top of her.” Elfenbein later told WSVN TV that the python “literally lifted us up off the ground.”

“If the five of us weren't here, we wouldn't have caught her,” Elfenbein confirmed to WPLG.

“We happened to be in the right place at the right time.”

This is the second-heaviest snake ever to be caught in Florida. Just last year, a 215-pound python was recovered in West Florida. The snakes pose a tremendous threat to both wildlife and the ecosystem at large. It is, however, not the longest. That record belongs to a Burmese found last summer, which measures 19 feet but weighs only 125 pounds.

“A python this big likely consumed a lot of our deer and rabbits and all the other little furry critters we love to see here in Florida,” Elfenbein said of his find. When it was autopsied, the python was found to have fresh remains of a deer in its stomach. It also boasted a whopping 29 pounds of fat, according to NBC 6 Miami.

Elfenbein reported that one of the men will be keeping their catch’s skull for display. The rest of its carcass will be preserved for scientific research.