Python Spanning Nearly The Width Of The Road Found In Florida

Matt Devitt WINK Weather / Facebook

Footage shared by the weatherman Matt Devitt shows a massive python crossing a road in Everglades National Park. He said the snake is estimated to be at least 15 feet long and is seen spanning nearly the width of the road before finding refuge in the wetlands.

“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!”

It was a Burmese python, which is an invasive species in Florida and has been causing a lot of damage to the local ecosystem. They were initially brought to the state as pets but were released into the wild when they became too large to care for.

The pythons have multiplied and now threaten the populations of native animals in Florida.

 

The video of the snake has generated a lot of reactions on social media, with many expressing shock and awe at the size of the python. Many have commented on the problem of invasive species in Florida and the damage they are causing to the native wildlife.

One comment on the post said, “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.”

Another said, “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.”

A third added, “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.”

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has launched several programs to remove pythons and slow their spread in the Everglades ecosystem.

Biologists have been catching and removing large numbers of pythons, and last year they captured a pregnant python that weighed 215 pounds, contained 122 eggs, and was 18ft long.

Watch Footage Of The Python Crossing The Road