Trapper catches 17-foot Burmese python west of Fort Lauderdale in the Everglades
FORT LAUDERDALE - A Florida Fish & Wildlife python trapper had the catch of a lifetime last week in an area west of Fort Lauderdale when he captured a Burmese python over 17 feet in length.
"You gotta let her work, as my Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu friends say. Got to let them work," joked Matthew Kogo while he attempted to subdue the snake as shown on a video posted to his Instagram account on June 27.
Kogo, a trapper for the state, wrangled the 17-foot, 1-inch apex predator along the Francis S. Taylor Wildlife Management Area in the Florida Everglades. He originally posted about catching the huge reptile on June 25.
Pythons are an invasive species in Florida
With the annual Florida python hunt to begin in August, experts warn that hotter temperatures, constant rainfall, and humidity can make the invasive snakes more apparent in residential areas.
Burmese pythons wreak havoc on natural wildlife in the Florida Everglades. The snakes eat everything from deer to alligators and have reduced some mammal populations by as much as 90%, according to FWC.
"Pythons and other snakes are exothermic, so they prefer to be active when it's warm and humid. They're tropical snakes," said Andrew Durso, a wildlife biologist and professor at Florida Gulf Coast University.
"Nighttime temperatures are over 75 degrees. It's probably a good rule of thumb for nocturnal python activity," Durso added.
Florida's annual Python Challenge in the Everglades will run August 9-18.