Watch Python Hunters Capture Florida's Largest Snake on Record
The largest snake ever caught in Florida has been discovered in Naples. A Burmese python was taken to the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, which confirmed that it measured 19 feet in length and weighed 125 pounds. The previous record-holder, a Burmese python found in Florida’s Everglades in 2020, measured 18 feet, 9 inches and weighed 104 pounds.
"It's the longest snake that's ever been reported in Florida," Ian Easterling, a biologist at the Conservancy, told Orlando's Fox 35. "[It is] possibly the longest Burmese python on record."
Life-long Naples resident Jake Waleri caught the beast on Monday in Big Cypress National Preserve. He had been out python hunting with a group of friends when he noticed the snake from a distance.
“It was starting off as a slow night,” Waleri recalled to Fox 35. “Then around one o’clock in the morning we stumbled upon this giant snake. We cruised up real close to it and then I realized it was an absolute monster.”
Incredible video posted by Waleri to Instagram shows the moment the snake lunged at the 22-year-old hunter. The video begins with Waleri pulling the python by its tail out of some brush, just a moment before the snake whips its body around and tries to bite the young man.
Waleri screams an obscenity and immediately buckles to the ground, grabbing the snake by the neck and screaming, “Let’s goooo!” The python angrily writhes, snapping at Waleri as it tightens its body around him. As Waleri's friends scurry into the frame to pull the snake from around their friend, those recording the video can be heard screaming in terror.
“It’s the only snake I’ve ever seen that’s scared me enough where I just didn’t know what to do,” Waleri admitted. “We wrestled this thing for about three minutes before I got a hold of the head. It was a fight, and it was a good one. Definitely one to remember.”
Burmese pythons are one of the largest snakes known to man. They are particularly common in Florida, where they have no natural predators and decimate the state’s native animal populations. They will feast on anything from rabbits and cats to larger animals such as deer.
An astonishing video of a python’s autopsy, posted to Instagram last year, shows a complete, undigested crocodile being removed from the snake’s belly.
Pythons pose such a significant risk to the environment that Florida residents do not need a permit in order to kill them. However, they are protected by anti-cruelty laws, which means hunters must exterminate the snakes in a humane manner.
Florida even hosts its yearly Python Challenge, which offers monetary rewards for keeping the population at bay.
As a result of their efforts, Waleri and his friends facilitated the discovery and removal of 111 additional eggs from the python's home. That number set its own record for the largest python nest recorded in Florida.
“It's awesome to be able to make an impact on South Florida's environment,” Waleri said. “We love this ecosystem and try to preserve it as much as possible.”
