A Burmese python measuring nearly 19 feet long was found in the Florida Everglades, and the massive catch was caught on camera.
From the moment they saw this python, Ryan Ausburn and Kevin Pavlidis knew she was something special.
“I was like, ‘Oh, my God, that thing is massive,’” python hunter Pavlidis said.
“That’s a once in a great while if not once in a lifetime catch to be honest with you,” Ausburn added.
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They were hunting the invasive species in the Florida Everglades when they spotted a Burmese python they suspected would break records.
“That thing dwarfs everything I’ve seen before. I know very well that could be the biggest snake I ever see in my entire life,” Pavlidis said.
Both seasoned hunters, Ausburn and Pavlidis said they never could have prepared for the catch.
“I have never been afraid of a snake before and I saw that snake and I was like, ‘Oh, my God, that thing could literally kill me,’” according to Pavlidis.
“It’s all fun and games until I actually got hold of that thing and it started getting hold of me,” Ausburn recounted.
Waist deep in water, Ausburn went after her first, then called Pavlidis in. The pair eventually untangled her.
“There’s a good chance she could break the state record, which could break the all-time record for the species," Ausburn said.
The record is 18.8 feet long which is why these hunters didn’t want the catch to slip away.
“My biggest fear throughout that whole ordeal was losing her. Every single snake that we take out of the environment is one less consuming our native wildlife and that’s really what we do it for,” Ausburn said.
Florida Fish and Wildlife says the snake was 18-feet, 9-inches, beating the previous Florida record by 5 inches. It weighed in at 104 pounds.
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