A 19-foot-long and 125 pounds (56.6 kg) heavy Burmese python, which is regarded as the longest ever, was recently caught by a 22-year-old boy in Florida, United States. Jake Waleri, a student of Ohio State University, caught the python, which had the length of an adult giraffe, on Monday. He took it to the Conservancy of Southwest Florida to collect the reptile's measurements, according to USA Today. Prior to this, the largest Burmese python caught in Florida was in October 2020 which measured at 18 foot and nine inches.
In a video shared by Mr Waleri on Instagram, the python can be seen lunging towards him as he drags it on the road by its tail. Both of them wrestle on the road and a few seconds later, several others join in to help the 22-year-old capture the snake.
Mr Waleri told the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, "We brought the snake to the Conservancy to be officially measured and documented. We wanted to donate this find to science. It's awesome to be able to make an impact on South Florida's environment. We love this ecosystem and try to preserve it as much as possible."
The 22-year-old boy said that although it was a "dream" to capture the reptile, the whole incident was "chaotic" given its "insane" size. "I knew we were capable of it but I didn't know it would happen. Last year my cousin and I caught a snake that was almost 18 feet long, and we realised we could handle a snake of that size," he told USA Today. He continued, "At first I just held onto the tail for dear life. And then one of my friends took a net and tried to pin its head down, and we quickly realised that was not a winning strategy. It's the only snake that's scared me so much that I didn't know what to do."
According to National Geographic, Burmese pythons are one of the largest snakes in the world. They are best known for the way they catch and eat their food. The snake uses its sharp rearward-pointing teeth to capture the prey and then "coils its body around the animal, squeezing a little tighter with each exhale until the animal suffocates". This python poses a threat to Florida's wildlife as it feeds on mammals, birds and alligators while having only a few natural predators except humans.
