Recently captured and killed 16-footer had just eaten 76lb deer
While the Florida Everglades freeze of a few years ago managed to kill off quite a few Burmese (Python molurus bivittatus) and African rock pythons (Python s. sebae), many of these invasive animals were able to survive it, apparently including a 16-foot Burmese python captured and killed by Florida state work crews. What was more surprising was what was in its stomach; a 76-pound deer. After the reptile was killed, its stomach was slit open to reveal the full grown doe, in the process of being digested. While deer remnants have been found in the bellies of Burmese pythons, this finding marks the first time such a large deer was found soon after it had been eaten.
The snake weighed around 150 pounds and was one of the largest snakes found in the Everglades, Frank Mazzotti, professor of wildlife ecology and conservation at the University of Florida, told the Los Angeles Times. Mazzotti, who also hunts pythons in Florida, said most snakes that they capture are around 8 feet in length, so the 16-footer is unusual but not surprising given that Burmese pythons can exceed 20 feet in length. Photos of the dispatched python can be found here but be warned, as they are fairly gruesome in nature.
