FWC captures massive Burmese python in Everglades

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WESTON, Fla. - The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission captured one of the heaviest Burmese pythons on record in the Everglades.

Photo courtesy: Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission

According to FWC, Contractor Kurt Cox with the PATRIC program caught the massive snake in the Everglades Francis S. Taylor WMA. 

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It weighed 176.6 pounds and is the heaviest Burmese python caught in the FWC's PATRIC program and the fourth-heaviest Burmese python the FWC has on record. It was 16.9 feet long. It is also the 22nd-longest Burmese python the FWC has on record.

The heaviest Burmese python removed from Florida, according to the FWC, was a 215-pound, 17.7-foot female python removed from The Conservancy of Southwest Florida in December 2021. 

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According to the FWC, the longest Burmese python removed from Florida was a 125.56-pound, 19-foot female python removed in July 2023.  

The Burmese python is a large, nonvenomous constrictor snake and an invasive species in Florida. They are primarily found in and around the Everglades ecosystem in south Florida where they present a threat to native wildlife. 

Whenever they are reported outside of these areas, it is usually because they have been released or escaped, according to FWC.