An 18-Foot Female Python Was Captured In Florida & You Can Actually Get Paid To Remove Them
She weighs 215 lbs!
It's a record-breaking catch by the Conservancy of Southwest Florida and it might just make your skin crawl! The largest Burmese Python in Florida was captured in the Everglades at 18 feet and 215 lbs.
It's so massive, biologists say the female reptile was developing 122 eggs. The average amount of eggs that are normally carried in a female python is 43.
"This female species is a direct threat to our native fauna across the Everglades bio region," said Ian Bartoszek, The Python Project Manager at the Conservancy.
This means, the animal will consume the wildlife in the area.
The snake was humanely euthanized, and will be used for research. In fact, USA Today reported the snake had been dead for six months, and National Geographic was writing an article about the program, which their social media confirmed in a post.
"It’s not every day we can say we invited National Geographic to our invasive species lab," their caption reads.
So, the scientists kept the information on the down low until the exclusive story was published this week.
This is actually something you can get paid to do in South Florida, according to the Python Elimination Program with the South Florida Water Management District.
If you apply to be a removal agent and get accepted on the team, you can get $10-15/hour for 10 hours a day searching for the snakes in the designated areas.
You'll receive an additional $50 for each python that measures up to four feet and $25 for every foot after that. Hypothetically, with the Burmese python that was just captured, you'd receive an incentive of $400.
On top of all that, you can get an added $200 for each verified active nest.
The South Florida Water Management District covers Monroe, Miami-Dade, Broward, Collier, Hendry, Lee, and Palm Beach counties.