John Hammond is a hunter who works for a program launched by the state of Florida to help combat the invasive species the Burmese python. Last month, he was out hunting when he came upon the longest Burmese python that he’d ever seen!

“I figured at that point it was either write it down and say I saw one or pick it up and say I got one,” John said afterwards.

John explained that he grabbed the python by the head, and the beast constricted around him from the waist down. The hunter managed to then slowly drag the python to his truck and coax it into a bag.

“Ran down, grabbed it by the head,” he said. “When I did that, it constricted me from the waist down, which was the plan.”

Measuring in at 18 feet long, the python is the longest of it’s kind that has been taken in the python elimination program. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation said that it is also the  heaviest (150 pounds) python that “has ever been removed by an FWC contractor for our Python Removal Contractor Program.”

After being captured, the snake was euthanized, and John skinned it for the hide. John explained that getting rid of Burmese pythons is for the good of the community.

“They’ve eaten up the marsh rabbits, the small mice and stuff, and everything that normally eats them is impacted because they can’t,” he said. “The food chain is not there anymore.”

“It’s domestic leather,” John added, explaining skinning it. “If we can get to using it here, it’s not wasted.”

Find out more about this invasive species in the video below!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to_TXKWpvl4