While the Sunshine State is most prominently known for its amusement parks, humidity, and coastal living, it’s home to a few anomalies as well.
Oversized wildlife is one of these quirks.
Four researchers recently captured a 17-foot-long python in South Florida.
More specifically, the 140-pound snake was living in the Big Cypress National Preserve before it was trapped.
Upon further inspection, the researchers discovered that it was a female python who was carrying 73 eggs.
The men attribute their success to the innovative technology that made detecting the python a cinch.
History has it that pythons have been invading Florida’s Everglades since 1980.
Theorists suggest that there was an uptick in the python population because pet owners couldn’t handle the size of their snakes.
As a result, they dumped them into the Everglades. Unfortunately, they do nothing but wreak havoc on the land.
It’s for this reason why the researchers were over the moon when they successfully captured the enormous python.
Though this was a huge win for the team, there are still over 100,000 pythons living in the Everglades.
As research and technology continue to advance, wildlife specialists are growing increasingly optimistic.
In addition to seizing pythons, the team also collects data, develops new extraction strategies, and conducts in-depth research on how to preserve the species.