Facebook / Nicholas Banos
Pythons have been taking over the Florida Everglades for several years now. It started with a hurricane that released a bunch of the snakes into the National Park. It’s always been unclear if damage from the hurricane is what set the snakes free into the swampland, or if a rare reptiles breeder released all of his snakes because he had to flee his home to get away from the storm. But, what started with a handful of snakes has blossomed into tens of thousands of pythons slithering throughout the Everglades National Park and the rest of south Florida.
This is one of the largest snakes every caught in my home state of Florida. It was captured by snake wranglers Nick Banos and Leonardo Sanchez, who were working for the South Florida Water Management District to help curb the burgeoning invasive/non-native python population. Measuring in at 15 feet and 144-pounds, scientists estimate that a snake this size could easily eat a grown ass man weighing up to 170-pounds.
Facebook / Nicholas Banos
Facebook / Nicholas Banos
The pair spotted the snake in the brush on the side of a levee where the trees meet the water. It quickly bolted into the bushes and trees when Sanchez jumped to grab it.
“We had to fight it in those trees to get it out,” Banos, 24, told CBS News. “This snake can easily take out a 170-pound man.”
After a few minutes, the hunters were able to take control of the python. One man grabbed the top of its neck, the other carried the tail.
“You have to make sure you have it stretched out,” Banos explained. “Otherwise it’s going to be hard to keep control.” via CBS News
The state of Florida offers up a certain number of snake-hunting permits each year, and those with the time and the means to go snake wranglin’ can snatch up these permits and get paid down the line when they turn in the snakes. Shockingly, this 15-foot-long python that’s big enough to swallow a Great Dane whole was only worth $325. They get paid $50 for every python 4-foot or shorter, and an additional $25 for every foot measured beyond 4. These invasive/non-native snakes have the potential to wipe out locally native species over time and completely throw the local ecosystem out of whack, so efforts to curb their population numbers have ramped up in recent years.
$325 and the story of a lifetime isn’t too shabby for a day spent in the Florida Everglades avoiding other menacing creatures like alligators and Zika-carrying mosquitoes.