The Burmese python is one of many invasive species in the state of Florida.
The South Florida Water Management District announced on its Facebook page that python hunter Jason Leon has captured the longest Burmese python (Python molurus bivittatus) as part of the district’s Python Elimination Program. The snake, a female, measured 17-feet 1-inch in length and weighed 132 pounds, Leon said in a video posted to social media by the water district.
South Florida Water Management District
Python hunter Jason Leon, left, with a South Florida Water Management District record Burmese python.
Leon’s python eclipses the previous record under the Python Elimination Program, set just last month by Dusty Crum, whose catch measured 16 feet, 11 inches in length.
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Burmese Pythons In The Everglades
Leon also holds the state record, an 18-foot-8-inch Burmese python that he caught back in 2013. During the last nine months, since the water district started the Python Elimination Program, hunters have removed 738 Burmese pythons from district lands in three counties; Miami-Dade, Broward and Collier counties.
Python hunter Jason Leon set a record for the longest snake caught as part of SFWMD's Python Elimination Program with this 17-foot-1-inch Burmese python that he brought to the District's Homestead Field Station today. Leon's catch tops the previous high mark for the program of 16 feet, 11 inches established by Dusty "Wildman" Crum last month. Leon also holds the state record with an 18-foot-8-inch python he caught in 2013. Since SFWMD’s program started in late March, python hunters have eliminated 738 invasive Burmese pythons on District lands in Miami-Dade, Broward and Collier counties.
Posted by South Florida Water Management District on Monday, December 4, 2017
The Burmese python is one of many invasive species that are running wild in Florida. The species is well established in the Florida Everglades and authorities are actively trying to reduce their populations. The South Florida Water Management District's Python Elimination Program and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Python Challenge are two of the state sponsored programs used to reduce the populations of these large snakes.
