PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – A man known for his prowess at capturing pythons recently made an enormous catch in the Florida Everglades.
Conservationist and python hunter Mike Kimmel, also known as ‘Python Cowboy’ to his Instagram followers, bagged an enormous female python measuring more than 17 feet long and weighing about 150 lbs.
It could be a record-breaker.
Kimmel, a contractor with the South Florida Water Management District, said he caught the snake in an Everglades spoil island in the Francis S. Taylor Wildlife Management Area earlier in the week.
According to Mike Kirkland, an invasive animal biologist, the South Florida Water Management District’s python elimination program has removed 2,970 pythons to date.
“Our program record is 17 feet 5 inches. FWC’s record python is 18 feet. The state record is just above 18 feet,” Kirkland wrote in an email.
Video posted on Kimmel’s Instagram account shows him wrangling with the python and bleeding from his arm.
“This ain’t good. I think she got an artery,” he said.
Thankfully, Kimmel survived the experience. He said the snake was humanely euthanized and will be officially measured and weighed.
Pythons, invasive and hungry for native wildlife, wreak havoc on the Florida ecosystem.
“It was a big win for Florida conservation!” he wrote on Instagram.
Kimmel will post an update on whether or not the python broke any records on his YouTube page, which can be found by clicking here.