Record-length python caught in Miami-Dade

A Florida man caught a record-setting 17-foot, 5-inch female python earlier this week in MiamiDade County, the South Florida Water Management District said.

“Kyle Penniston, of Homestead, made the solo capture of a 17-foot, 5-inch female Burmese python while hunting on SFWMD lands in Miami-Dade County late Monday night,” the district announced. “The mammoth snake weighed in at 120 pounds. It's the third caught as part of the program that measured more than 17 feet.”

The district noted that the with latest capture, its professional python hunters have now eliminated 1,859 of the non-native snakes from the water district’s lands. But get this: Placed end to end, those caught pythons would have “a combined length of more than 2 miles and collectively weight more than 11 tons,” the water district said.

Penniston now has the largest python caught in the hunt — and it brought his total of snakes caught to 235. That amazing number still places him second among hunters — Brian Hargrove of Miami leads with 257 pythons caught.

In a post on Facebook, Penniston explained how he caught his record-setting python:

“I just caught this python alone, I was riding along the levee and saw this massive girl in the water. Jumped out and grabbed her by the head and realized how big she truly was. She started wrapping me while I tried getting her up the levee, she ended up making me loose my grip and as soon as I knew it she had my hand in her mouth. I grabbed my pistol off my side loaded one in the chamber and it jammed. I kept fighting till we were both dead of energy. I finally was able to get her up the levee and l euthanized her as it’s required by our program. Also thanks to Brian Hargrove for stoping to get some pictures for me. #blessed. Ended up being 17’5 120lbs

"Just six months after eliminating the first 1,000 pythons from District lands, this program is about to double that total because of a true team effort," said SFWMD scientist Mike Kirkland, project manager for the Python Elimination Program. "With the Governing Board's unwavering support, District staff and a dedicated group of hunters are working to help control this invasive species and protect native wildlife."

The district’s team of professional python hunters was selected from more than 1,000 applicants. They were given access to District-owned lands in Miami-Dade County for the pilot phase and later in Palm Beach, Broward and Collier counties as the program expanded.

According to the district, the hunters are paid $8.25 per hour, up to eight hours daily, to hunt in the Everglades. “Depending on the size of the snake presented, hunters can also receive additional payments of $50 for pythons measuring up to 4 feet and an extra $25 for each foot measured above 4 feet. An additional $200 is given for each eliminated python nest with eggs.”