19-Foot-Long Python, A record-setting Burmese python nearly 19 feet in length was captured and killed in a rural part of Miami-Dade County, officials announced this week.
Measuring 18 feet 8 inches, it is the longest Burmese python that has ever been found in the area.
Measuring 18 feet 8 inches, it is the longest Burmese python that has ever been found in the area.
The snake was discovered by Jason Leon, 23, a marine biology student at Florida International University. Leon was riding all terrain vehicles with friends in Florida City, about 35 miles south of Miami, when he spotted 3 feet of the python poking out of the brush, the Sun Sentinel reports.
Having kept Burmese pythons as pets, Leon knew to grab it from behind the head when he tried to pull it out. That’s when the snake started to wrap its lengthy body around Leon’s.
“At one point it was wrapped around both my legs and one of my arms,” Leon told the Sun Sentinel. “I knew I had to keep it away from my neck.”
“I wasn’t scared,” he added. “I had two other people right there. I knew if it came down to it they would help me out.”
After struggling with the snake for 10 minutes, Leon finally cut off its head.
Researchers from the University of Florida collected the snake. A necropsy revealed that it was female, and was not carrying any eggs. It weighed 128 lbs.
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