Tag: Python

Hawaii sounds alarm after python is discovered at Oahu home

It’s illegal to possess snakes in Hawaii, as the invasive reptiles could devastate native fauna if released into the wild.

A wellness check at a Honolulu home last Saturday turned up a deceased male and a live python that measured 3-1/2 feet.

Few details were released regarding the dead man. But the discovery of a pet python in a state where snakes are not allowed was alarming to state officials.

“We should all be very concerned that snakes are being transported and kept by residents which are a serious threat to Hawaii’s unique environment,” Sharon Hurd, chairwoman of the Hawaii Board of Agriculture, stated in a news release.

“Those who know anyone with snakes or other illegal animals in Hawaii should report it and those who possess them should turn them in under amnesty.”

Ball python. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Hawaii’s amnesty program is designed to deter people from releasing unwanted invasive reptiles into the wild, where they could establish populations and threaten native fauna.

(Possessing snakes and other illegal animals in Hawaii is a class C felony, punishable by fines of up to $200,000 and three years in prison. Under the amnesty program, citizens can turn in illegal animals, prior to the start of an investigation, without fear of prosecution.)

The snake found at the Honolulu-area home was a nonvenomous ball python, which was transported to the HDOA’s Plant Quarantine Branch.

Ball pythons are native to West and Central Africa and can measure up to six feet. They prey largely on birds and small mammals.

In January, a 20-inch gopher snake was discovered in a shipping container that was being unloaded at a Molokai hardware store. Police arrived and killed the snake with a pellet gun.

–Top image courtesy of Hawaii Department of Agriculture

Biologists wrestle massive 16-foot python from Florida canal

They say it required “all hands” of three men to restrain the thrashing reptile. Burmese pythons are an invasive species in Florida.

A 16-foot Burmese python was captured recently by a team of experts in Florida, but the massive reptile did not surrender without a struggle.

“It was a large female python. She was upset and thrashed around, taking all hands to restrain her,” Ian Bartoszek, a biologist for the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, stated in a news release.

Bartoszek and fellow biologist Ian Sterling were tracking a smaller male python in Collier County with Conservancy board member John Kukk and Kukk’s wife, Julie, when they spotted the giant snake along the edge of a weedy canal.

Burmese pythons are invasive and pose a substantial threat to native wildlife in Florida. The state is in a difficult battle simply to keep their numbers in check and prevent their spread beyond the Everglades.

Breeding-size female pythons represent the largest threat.

Bartoszek stepped in the neck area of the python with a boot and reached to grab its head, while Easterling grabbed the snake closer to its middle.

John and Julie Kukk pose with 16-foot python removed from Everglades region. Photo: Conservancy of Southwest Florida

John Kukk scrambled down the bank and, while knee-deep in the canal, he grabbed the python by its tail.

“After a few minutes of heavy breathing, the hard part was mostly over and the crew tried to get the snake up the steep canal bank and closer to the field truck,” the Conservancy stated.

“Bartoszek held the head with two hands and the snake had wound up tight around Easterling’s leg. It was a bit comical trying to move everyone in unison up the cliff, but after a few laughs they made it to the top and secured the mouth of the snake closed.”

The Conservancy said of the python, which measured 16-plus feet and weighed 120 pounds:

“Her humane removal from the ecosystem will keep an additional 50 invasive pythons from hatching this season and many more over future years. To date, the team has removed over 1,200 pythons weighing over 33,000 pounds from Collier County.”

In June 2022, state biologists captured what they said was the heaviest python they’d encountered. The pregnant snake – containing 122 eggs – weighed 215 pounds and measured 18 feet.

That python had recently consumed a white-tailed deer.

Florida hunters bag giant python, but this ‘monster’ may still be loose

Hunters in Florida recently killed the second-heaviest python ever captured in the state, but rare footage shows perhaps a larger python crossing a road.

The recent capture of a 17-foot, 198-pound python in Florida generated national headlines, mostly because it was the second-heaviest python ever caught in the Sunshine State.

The main image showed five men posing with the dead python, which, as one meteorologist remarked, boasted a head “the size of a football.”

Such captures are indeed noteworthy. Burmese pythons are highly invasive and threaten native wildlife. They do not belong in Florida and the state encourages hunting and removal.

But what people rarely see, because the swamp-dwelling reptiles are nocturnal, are giant live pythons roaming in broad daylight.

One remarkable exception occurred last January, when a photographer out birding with friends captured video footage of a massive python slithering across a road in Everglades National Park.

Kym Clark, who captured the footage, recalled the surprise 11 a.m. encounter for ForTheWin Outdoors.

“It was a very random encounter,” Clark said. “There were no hunters or weapons. We never expected this. Once it hit the grass, it vanished completely in seconds.”

Pythons in Florida prey on native mammals, including deer. They also eat birds and other reptiles, including alligators.

Clark said watching the clearly pregnant python escape caused her to take a more active role in helping with eradication efforts.

Hunters pose with the second-largest python ever caught in Florida. Photo: Mike Elfenbein

“She was loaded with eggs,” Clark explained. “From that day on, I started learning how to hunt pythons because I vow to never let them go again.

“I can catch pythons now, but being honest, I’m not sure I could catch her, even today. It would take at least two strong men in my opinion. But I will sure try if I have the opportunity to meet a monster like this again.”

Clark and her friend estimated the python to measure perhaps 18 feet.

After looking at photos of the 17-foot, 198-pound python captured last week, Clark said she believes the python she and her friends encountered “was actually larger than that.”

The heaviest python captured in Florida was an 18-foot, 215-pound specimen killed in Picayune Strand State Forest in 2021. The longest python measured 19 feet but weighed only 125 pounds.

Floridian dresses for occasion during successful python hunt

A Florida hunter credits dressing like a python to catch a large python recently in the Everglades.

Fly anglers refer to the importance of “matching the hatch” in order to ensure a successful day of fishing.

For python hunter Kymberly Clark, the appropriate phrase is “matching the catch.”

Clark recently removed a large male python from the Florida Everglades while wearing clothes similar in color to her slithery quarry.

“When you match the catch!” Clark boasted via Instagram. “Who needs Gucci when you can dress Burmese Python style. For size perspective, I am 5’ 6.” We didn’t actually measure this guy but he was long and very thin.”

Burmese pythons are invasive and threaten native wildlife in Florida. The state encourages public hunting as a means of keeping python numbers in check and helping to slow their spread to other regions.

The effort has been a struggle, but hunters are doing their part and Clark was proud of her recent catch, stating: “Every python removed makes a big difference in preserving Florida’s ecosystem and protecting our native wildlife.”

Another recent catch involved an enormous python measuring 17 feet, 2 inches and weighing 198 pounds. It was the second-heaviest python ever captured in Florida.

The heaviest was an 18-foot, 215-pound python captured in the Picayune Strand State Forest in 2021. The longest python caught in Florida measured 19 feet but weighed only 125 pounds.

‘Huge, huge’ python shown slithering from rooftop to treetop

Footage has surfaced showing a large python stretching from a rooftop to a treetop and poking its head from the opposite side of the tree.

Footage has surfaced showing a large python stretching from a rooftop to a treetop and poking its head from the opposite side of the tree.

The footage was captured by onlookers in Queensland, according to Yahoo News Australia, which identified the snake as a carpet python and stated that a “stunned” family watched it slither from tree to tree.

The footage first appeared on TikTok and began to circulate elsewhere on social media early Monday.

Susanta Nanda of the Indian Forest Service shared the accompanying clip showing the “huge huge python eking its space out in the top.”

In the footage the python’s head emerges from the opposite side of the tree as the reptile gauges its next move.

While the snake looks massive, carpet pythons rarely exceed 13 feet in length. They are among the most commonly seen snakes in suburban Australia.

Record python nest containing 111 eggs discovered in Florida

Just after the capture of a record-breaking 19-foot Burmese python in Florida, the state announced the shocking discovery of a record-breaking nest containing 111 python eggs.

Days after the capture of a record-breaking 19-foot Burmese python in Florida, the state announced the discovery of a record-breaking nest containing 111 python eggs.

Burmese pythons are an invasive species in Florida. They’re found in and beyond the Everglades and prey on native species such as mammals, birds, other reptiles, and even small alligators.

The shocking discovery of so many eggs in one nest helps illustrate the prolific nature of a species that has few natural predators.

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However, Florida is combating the spread of pythons through various programs, including the Python Action Team Removing Invasive Species, or PATRIC.

Photo: Brandon Rahe

The nest with 111 eggs was discovered in the Everglades and removed by contractors as part of the PATRIC program.

The 19-foot python – the longest ever recorded in the state, replacing an 18-foot python – was captured Monday by hunters in Big Cypress National Preserve.

Burmese pythons are not protected in Florida, except by anti-cruelty laws, and can be hunted year-round without a permit or license.

The annual Florida Python Challenge, with a grand prize worth $10,000, is scheduled Aug. 4-13.

–Image courtesy of Brandon Rahe

Watch: Alligator shows python who rules the Everglades

A Florida resident has captured footage showing an alligator devouring a large python after what appears to have been a lopsided battle.

A Florida resident has captured footage showing an alligator attempting to devour a large python after what appears to have been a lopsided battle.

The graphic footage was shared recently by Katina Boychew under the heading: Gator vs Python.

It was also a battle between a native species (American alligator) and a highly invasive species (Burmese python).

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Katina Boychew (@katina86)

So it must have pleased Floridians to see the gator dispatching the python, at times thrashing its rival, so thoroughly.

As Sage Marshall described this week in Field & Stream: “… The gator then proceeds to gulp down part of the giant snake in a way that reminds me of Joey Chestnut eating hot dogs on the 4th of July.”

The one-sided result should not come as a surprise, given the weight advantage enjoyed by gators.

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), the heaviest alligator recorded in the state weighed 1,043 pounds.

The state-record python weighed 215 pounds.

MORE: Can you spot the hidden animal in these 14 photos?

 

Rare footage shows massive python navigating Kenya stream

A photographer on safari in Kenya has captured rare footage showing an enormous python navigating a shallow stream.

A photographer on safari in Kenya has captured rare footage showing an enormous python navigating a shallow stream.

The footage was captured in the Mara Triangle by Ollie Outram, an associate snake handler for East African Reptiles.

The research group stated via Instagram: “Pythons are very comfortable in water and usually use wildlife trails leading down to water to ambush their prey. They are very good swimmers and can spend quite sometime underwater.”

East African Reptiles explained that Southern African rock pythons can measure about 20 feet and the snake in the footage appears to be fully grown.

The group added: “They are a harmless constrictor, but a bite from a large python can cause significant damage and will need treatment from a doctor.”

Watch: Florida motorist encounters giant python crossing road

A Florida weatherman has shared footage of a massive python slithering across a highway, generating an array of responses.

A Florida weatherman has shared footage of an enormous Burmese python slithering across a highway, generating an array of responses.

“MASSIVE FLORIDA SNAKE!” WINK meteorologist Matt Devitt wrote on Facebook. “Check out the size of this 15+ foot python crossing the road recently in Everglades National Park. Nope!”

The soundless footage, captured by Kym Clark, shows the snake nearly spanning the width of the road before finding refuge in the wetlands.

Florida is home to thousands of invasive pythons, unfortunately, but it’s rare to encounter a snake this large in broad daylight.

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Devitt’s post generated nearly 3,000 comments, including these top observations:

–“Really sad that people released these snakes after they got too big to be a pet. To begin with, they aren’t native to North America and should never have been brought here. Now they have multiplied and are killing FL deer, panthers… whatever they can and threatening those populations.”

–“We’re overrun with them in the Everglades. I think you have to have a license to catch them. They’re eating the natural habitat animals, even alligators.”

–“Had I seen it I would have run it over until it was dead. I hate snakes even though I know in my head that there is a real purpose for them I don’t like them.”

The most popular comment, however, was this: “The worst snake I’ve ever dealt with was human.”

Many were sympathetic, typing responses such as “No truer words spoken” and “You got that right.”

Pythons are literally feasting on native wildlife and Florida has launched several programs intended to remove the reptiles and slow their spread in and beyond the Everglades ecosystem.

Last June biologists captured what they said was the heaviest python they’ve encountered. The pregnant snake – containing 122 eggs – weighed 215 pounds and measured 18 feet.

She had consumed what was believed to be an entire white-tailed deer as her last meal.

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Python strikes at car before disappearing; ‘where did he go?’

A python was captured in video footage striking at a passing car before disappearing on a road in Kruger National Park, much to the dismay of a woman tourist who became frantic, worried that it might have invaded her vehicle.

A python was captured in video footage striking at a passing car before disappearing on a road in Kruger National Park, much to the dismay of a woman tourist who became frantic, worried that it might have invaded her vehicle.

And, indeed, it did.

Pythons are the largest snakes found in Africa and are rarely seen in Kruger National Park, a famous destination in South Africa. But it’s winter there, and pythons are known to seek warmth, as it did in this case.

When the python disappeared, the woman in the vehicle can be heard saying, “Did we kill him? Where did he go?”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWTtFdMQkZo&t=10s

A passerby stopped to inform the driver that the python had crawled under the vehicle and into the engine.

Kelly Balaam, 40, a nature guide for Kruger Pride Safaris, captured the video. He told LatestSightings.com, “We were on a game drive in the park and I stopped to talk to Arun from Legend Safaris who had stopped his vehicle in the road. A python was slithering in the road and moved underneath the vehicle and then into the engine.

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“Jan, who is also a guide, was on the drive with me and offered to help Arun remove the python from the engine. At first, it was only two vehicles and within a few minutes a couple of cars had parked nearby to watch the action unfold. The python was pulled out reluctantly and then released back into the bush.

“After the sighting, we were all in high spirits as python are not often spotted in the park.”

Photos courtesy of LatestSightings.com.

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