iStockphoto / dndavis
A man in Southwest Florida nabbed a 12+ foot invasive Burmese python in Rotonda West in Charlotte County. This is one of the largest invasive Burmese pythons captured here in the Sunshine State in a long time.
The area this massive python was captured is intriguing. Rotonda West is in Charlotte County and on the Northwest side of Charlotte Harbor, a massive body of water, which separates it from the Florida Everglades to the south.
While these invasive Burmese pythons are found throughout Southwest Florida this is not an area where snakes this big are common. That’s due in part to there being fewer large game/prey for them to eat, and the natural land/water barriers between the parts of SW Florida where these invasive snakes have been thriving.
Nevertheless, Wade Gardner nabbed this 12-footer that required three adult males to hold it up for photos that were then submitted to WINK News Chief Meteorologist Matt Devitt. The pictures where then shared on Facebook, blowing away Floridians (myself included) after they were published:
As noted in Devitt’s Facebook post, these invasive Burmese pythons have been pushing out of the Florida Everglades for years after gaining a stronghold there. They have been found throughout much of Florida’s central corridor (middle of the state) and all throughout the southwest and southeast portions of the state.
Wade Gardner who captured this 12-foot python spoke with the local WINK News about this massive snake:
As I said before, Rotonda West is semi-protected by natural land barriers that have prevented these invasive snakes from really gaining a stronghold there.
For context, here is what that area looks like on Google Maps. You can see natural water barriers to the south and east.
Google Maps
For anyone who wants to learn more about Rotonda West I read an interesting book last year, Swamp Peddlers, about the creation of Florida through various stages of real estate development and they touch on this part several times. I highly recommend that book for any fellow Floridians out there as well.
I live just to the north of this area, in Sarasota County, and have spent a huge portion of my life fishing/hiking/camping around these parts in Charlotte County. Never in my life have I come across a snake anywhere close to this size and honestly, I’m not sure how I’d react if I saw one this big. Do I get my ‘tools’ or do I call the cops first? What would you do?