@gatorchris1: Wrangling a 9ft Burmese python in the Everglades! These invasive snakes are native to Southeast Asia and wreak ecological havoc in the Florida Everglades. I caught my first one way back in 2006 and have caught many more since! The largest I’ve caught was 16ft and 123lbs! This was three years ago back when I worked under the south Florida water management district and removed invasive pythons to save native wildlife. I would live capture them and hand them over to a state representative, where they unfortunately ultimately are ended. It’s not the snake’s fault they’re here, but there truly is no other option with the overwhelming well over 20,000 Burmese pythons have been documented as removed/captured in Florida so far. The Burmese python population in Florida has grown far beyond the point where traditional animal relocation or captive placement is a viable management option. There are far too many to house in captivity in the USA and there is no practical or legal pathway to relocate these snakes back to their native range in Southeast Asia due to international wildlife trade regulations, disease transmission risks, and the immense financial/logistical burden that would present. I really with they would’ve at least let me keep the biggest one I caught though! The ecosystem destruction they bring is also immense, with 90%+ loss of small mammals, not to mention the unknown number of wading birds and reptiles eaten. So they have got to go. Invasive species are a very controversial and complex topic, I’ll have to make a long form video really discussing it. #python #animals #scicomm

Christopher Gillette

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Region: US

Saturday 13 June 2026 00:19:40 GMT