A 16-foot Burmese python and over 50 eggs were removed from under a house in the Florida Everglades during the holiday weekend.
The female python, weighing about 165 pounds, was removed by Ron Bergeron, an Everglades conservationist. The python was one foot away from becoming the largest on record.
The python’s nest was lodged within the outdoor structure underneath a home. Some of the eggs hatched upon the conservationist’s arrival.
Two men at an island camp in the Everglades called Bergeron after seeing the python. Bergeron went to the scene of the sighting, about four miles south of Alligator Alley in Broward County.
“The Burmese Python poses a significant threat to the Florida Everglades by disrupting the natural food chain,” said Bergeron. “With good fortune, we were able to find a large female, and remove her and an entire nest of up to 50 baby snakes which would have continued killing off our precious habitat.”
Burmese pythons first began spreading in the Everglades and throughout the state more than 20 years ago.
The Florida Wildlife Commission created removal opportunities open to the public to help combat the invasive apex predators.
