OCHOPEE, Fla. — Burmese pythons have been an invasive species for years in Florida, and one captured over the weekend is among the longest ever caught in the state, wildlife officials said.
Officials with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission announced Monday on its Facebook page that a female Burmese python measuring 17 feet, 9 inches was caught in the Big Cypress National Preserve near Ochopee in the Everglades.
According to WTVT, the snake weighed 83 pounds, 12 ounces. The snake was caught just after midnight Friday by Kevin Reich, with the FWC's Python Action Team, the television station reported.
The longest python caught by the Action Team was an 18-foot female trapped in December 2018, Newsweek reported. According to the FWC, the longest python ever caught in Florida was a female measuring 18 feet, 9 inches, the magazine reported. It was caught in 2013,.
Burmese pythons are a nonvenomous, invasive reptile found within the Everglades ecosystem, the Naples Daily News reported.
Because of the snake's invasive status, they can be "humanely killed on private lands" with no permit required, according to the FWC's website.
According to the Daily News, the Python Action team has caught more than 500 invasive pythons.