Snake Hunter Left Bleeding After Fight With 17-Foot Python

A snake hunter in Florida managed to catch a massive 17-foot python - but not before it left him bloodied and bruised. According to Local 10 News, conservationist and python hunter Mike Kimmel found the huge snake in the Everglades. A contractor with the South Florida Water Management District, Mr Kimmel - who is also known by his social media moniker Python Cowboy - documented the experience of trapping the invasive python in an Instagram post.

"I headed out into the swamp in search of an invasive #ManEater and at 11am I found her.... she wasn't coming without a fight," he wrote. " She immediately started to battle it out, taking strikes and pulling me into some tall grass with her, making it difficult to dodge her strikes... she was able to successfully get a bite on me."

The snake managed to puncture his "bicep and forearm, piercing an artery and hitting some nerves". After a long battle, Mr Kimmel managed to capture and humanely euthanize the python, which is considered an invasive species in Florida. 

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Yesterday's solo #Everglades islands python hunt was another one for the books! At 8am I headed out into the swamp on my 14' jon boat in search of an invasive #ManEater and at 11am I found her.... she wasn't coming without a fight lol. I noticed her almost immediately as soon as we crossed paths, I could barely contain my excitement. She definitely was not afraid of me and started to slowly cruise through the vegetation as I carefully walked next to her trying to gauge exactly how large she was... because of all the grass and weeds it was hard to tell but I could tell she was an absolute monster. Her being tangled in vegetation makes the capture that much more difficult, a snake this size will use the vegetation as leverage and can literally pull you into the swamp, no stopping 150lbs of SOLID muscle. I knew going for her head first would be the easiest and safest capture method but I couldn't turn down the chance to grab her by the tail and dance with the devil herself! As soon as I grabbed ahold of her I sealed my fate lol... no turning back now, she was coming for me! She immediately started to battle it out, taking strikes and pulling me into some tall grass with her, making it difficult to dodge her strikes... she was able to successfully get a bite on me. Only got me once but that's all it took... I was punctured quite deep on my bicep and forearm, piercing an artery and hitting some nerves, I was lucky she didn't latch on and that I was able to pull out of it. After loosing about a gallon of blood, lol, I was able to tire her out and get her under control. I then used a snake bag I had on my waist to tourniquet my arm because I was getting worried about how much blood I was loosing, better safe then sorry. I then had to drag all 150lbs of her alive, working to control my breathing so I didn't pass out from blood loss and the extreme heat that day, I would have been screwed. After getting her to my boat, where my suppressed .22 pistol was, I was able to euthanize her before leaving (I didn't have the proper bags for live transport because she was too large lol). Unofficial measurement: 17' WITH kinks #RECORDBREAKER? Videos and more info to come!!

A post shared by Trapper Mike (@pythoncowboy) on Jun 9, 2020 at 5:33am PDT

In a separate post, he also shared disturbing visuals of his bloodied arm. "This ain't good. I think she got an artery," he said.

"What a monster!! Thanks for getting rid of these invasive species," wrote one person in the comments section. "Absolutely terrifying," said another. 

Mike Kimmel is a state-contracted python hunter, which means he gets bonuses based on snake length, reports The Palm Beach Post. He also helps in trapping other invasive species like green iguana, Egyptian geese and feral hogs.

According to the US Geological Survey, non-native Burmese pythons have established a breeding population in South Florida and are one of the most concerning invasive species in Everglades National Park. They compete with native species for food, and have been linked to severe mammal declines in the area. The South Florida Water Management District's python elimination program has removed 2,970 pythons to date.