A construction crew working on U.S. 1 just south of the City of Miami discovered a huge 14-foot Burmese python Wednesday morning and flagged down a deputy from the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office for help, according to Pinecrest police.
Pinecrest is a village in Miami-Dade County located just 11 miles southwest of the City of Miami.
The Pinecrest Police Department posted a photo of the unusual incident on social media Thursday morning. The image shows Pinecrest Sgt. Carlos Atola and an MDSO deputy holding the large snake in front of the Tire Squad store in the 9700 block of S. Dixie Highway, smiling with the massive snake stretched between them.
“This invasive species poses a serious threat to Florida’s native wildlife, and thanks to quick action, it’s one less slithering danger on our roads and in our community,” Pinecrest police wrote on their Facebook post.
Police said this was not an everyday traffic stop.
The owner of Tire Squad was not available for comment and no employees wanted to speak. They also asked that customers not be interviewed.
Pythons, alligators trapper weighs in about the capture
CBS News Miami spoke with wildlife expert and trapper Todd Hardwick, who said he’s not surprised at all.
“We have seen quite a migration in the past few years from the Everglades, heading east into agricultural communities and towards Biscayne Bay and the shoreline and areas like Cutler Bay and Pinecrest,” Hardwick explained.
“And there was even one in a home in Stiltsville. A big factor is the food for them has gone down dramatically,” he added.
Stiltsville is a group of wooden houses built on stilts above the shallow waters of Biscayne Bay near Miami. Nobody lives in Stiltsville permanently anymore. The remaining houses are managed by the National Park Service within Biscayne National Park and are used for day visits, events, and research under special permits, not as private residences.
Hardwick said one question was whether this was a python from the wild or if it had been someone’s pet, which he said would be illegal.
