Record python captured in Miami-Dade
MIAMI-DADE Co., Fla. - A Miami man captured and killed the longest Burmese python ever captured in Florida. The snake measured 18 feet, 8 inches and weighed 128 pounds. The female was not carrying eggs according to a University of Florida scientist who examined the snake.
The previous record length for a Burmese python captured int he wild in Florida was 17 feet, 7 inches.
The capture happened late on the night of Saturday May 11 in a rural area of southeast Miami-Dade County. Jason Leon was driving his car when he and his passenger spotted the python.
They spotted about three feet of the snake sticking out from a roadside brush. Leon stopped his car, grabbed the snake behind its head and started dragging it out of the brush.
When the snake began to wrap itself around his leg, he called out to his friends and used a knife to kill the snake. Leon once owned Burmese pythons as pets and knew how to handle the snake.
Leon reported his capture to FWC's South Region. Burmese pythons are a non-native, invasive species that the FWC wants to eradicate.