Florida Man’s Record-Setting Burmese Python Catch Came With Bite Marks
OutdoorHub Reporters 11.13.18
Right when a Florida man goes and does something we all collectively shook our heads at, another Florida man makes a record-setting Burmese python catch and becomes an instant hero.
Sssssseventeen Foot Python
A South Florida Water Management District news release says Kyle Penniston captured the 17-foot, 5-inch female Burmese Python while hunting on SFWMD lands in Miami-Dade County. The gargantuan snake tipped the scales weighing in at 120 pounds.
Penniston finds himself ranked second among Florida snake hunters, with 235 snakes eliminated – Brian Hargrove claims the top spot with 257 dispatched snakes.
Python hunters in the state have now eliminated 1,859 of the invasive snakes on District lands. When combined, that’s over two miles and more than 11 tons of snake! Burmese pythons have decimated the Everglades ecosystem, mainly because there are no natural predators in the area to help control the population.
“Eliminating invasive species such as Burmese pythons is critical to preserving the rare Everglades ecosystem, the news release states. Florida taxpayers have invested billions of dollars to restore the water quality and hydrology of the Everglades. Reducing the populations of invasive plants and animals is necessary to ensure this investment results in meeting the shared goals of the overall restoration plan.
About The District’s Python Elimination Program
A team of professional python hunters was selected from more than 1,00 applicants and given access to District-owned lands in Miami-Dade County for the pilot phase and later in Palm Beach, Broward and Collier counties as the program expanded. These independent contractors are paid $8.25 per hour, up to eight hours daily, to hunt in the Everglades. Depending on the size of the snake presented, hunters can also receive additional payments of $50 for pythons measuring up to 4 feet and an extra $25 for each foot measured above 4 feet. An additional $200 is given for each eliminated python nest with eggs.
The invasive Burmese python, which breeds and multiples quickly and has no natural predator in the Everglades ecosystem, has decimated native populations of wildlife. The more that can be eliminated, especially females and their eggs, the better chance future generations of native wildlife will have to thrive in the Everglades ecosystem that Floridians have invested billions of dollars to restore.
