Whopper of a python nabbed by South Florida hunter

A record 1,859th python has been killed as part of an ongoing snake-hunting program launched by the South Florida Water Management District.

Kyle Penniston, of Homestead, killed the 17-foot, 5-inch, 120-pound, female Burmese python while hunting in Miami-Dade County on Monday night, officials said.

It was the third python caught on water management district lands that measured more than 17 feet.

With 235 snakes caught, Penniston is second only to Miami hunter Brian Hargrove who has eliminated 257 so far, officials said.

Laid end to end, the 1,859 snakes caught to date would stretch more than two miles and weigh over 11 tons, officials said.

The district’s Python Elimination Program hired hunters from among more than 1,000 applicants to rid the Everglades of the invasive species that multiplies rapidly, has no natural predators, and decimates native wildlife.

The program began in March 2017 in Miami-Dade then spread to Broward, Palm Beach and Collier counties.

Hunters are paid $8.25 per

hour, up to eight hours a day, to hunt in the Everglades. Depending on the size of the snake caught, hunters can earn an extra $50 for pythons measuring up to 4 feet and $25 more for each additional foot in length. Eliminating a python nest with eggs is worth a $200 bonus.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has a similar Python Removal Contractor Program.

Eliminating these pythons is necessary to preserve the delicate Everglades ecosystem that Florida taxpayers have invested billions of dollars to restore, officials said.

SOUTH FLORIDA WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT Kyle Penniston, of Homestead, captured a 17-foot, 5-inch, 120-pound female Burmese python while hunting in Miami-Dade County.