Florida nabs largest python ever found in state
Her last meal was an entire white-tailed deer, and she was on her way to a rendezvous with a male snake when the largest python ever found in Florida met her demise.
Weighing in at 215lbs (98kg) and nearly 18ft long (5 meters), the female Burmese python was caught after researchers used a male "scout" to find her.
The serpents have been periodically found in the state since irresponsible pet owners released or allowed pet pythons to escape years ago, with many then going on to thrive in Florida's subtropical climate.
The record-setting Burmese female killed by researchers from the Conservancy of Southwest Florida was about the height of a giraffe if stretched out vertically, according to state biologist Ian Bartoszek.
She had been slithering around the Florida Everglades forest when biologists, using a male python named Dionysus outfitted with a radio transmitter, found her.
He stopped at a spot in the western part of the forest. "We knew he was there for a reason, and the team found him with the largest female we have seen to date," Mr Bartoszek said. She was also discovered to have been pregnant with an astonishing 122 eggs.
