The Conservancy of Southwest Florida is going after big invasive snakes in a big way.
On Monday, they announced a record-breaking Burmese python season.
The group said it removed 6,300 pounds of the invasive snake, marking a milestone for the conservancy’s python program, with more than 20 tons of Burmese pythons removed from a 200-square-mile area in Southwest Florida since 2013.
Conservancy targets female pythons
Biologists target adult female pythons to stop python reproduction. Since 2013, the team has stopped 20,000 python eggs from hatching.
The Conservancy’s python program previously captured the largest female python ever documented, which measured 18 feet and weighed 215 pounds, as well as the largest male python on record at 16 feet and 140 pounds.
Pythons can eat meals that are more than 100% of their body mass, with a diet of more than 85 species, including deer, rabbits, foxes, bobcats, birds, and other reptiles and native wildlife.
Using radio telemetry and tagged male pythons known as scout snakes that help locate reproducing pythons during the breeding season, the team currently tracks 40 pythons. Staff monitor scout snakes across land from Naples through the western Everglades.
As the program expands into new areas, long-term monitoring has been shown to be effective.
