Two avid lucky snake wranglers from Florida were able to catch an incredible 144-pound python.
Nicholas Banos and his trapping partner, Leonardo Sanchez, headed into Everglades National Park looking for snakes as part a pilot program launched by the South Florida Water Management District encouraging private citizens to hunt down Burmese pythons, which is an invasive species.
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On Saturday, the duo were driving through the park when Sanchez caught a glimpse of the 15-foot critter in the bushes.
The snake proved to be feisty and tried first to slither away, but then it put up a fight. The wranglers were eventually able to subdue the python and stuff it into a large bag. Banos said his partner even got bitten by the non-venomous serpent a couple of time while holding onto its head during the tussle.
The captured monster python weighing in at 144 pounds was later euthanized by the trappers.
Speaking of their killing the snake, Banos told the station WSVN that the experience was both satisfying but also “a little bit of heartbreak.”
Banos and Sanchez were among 25 people who were picked and commissioned by the South Florida Water Management District to hunt down Burmese pythons in the area.
Trappers have 60 days to get rid of as many of the snakes as they can in exchange for a small compensation.
All the participants are being paid minimum wage hourly rate, up to eight hours a day, with an additional $50 payment for pythons measuring up to four feet.
Trappers like Banos and Sanchez bagging a larger specimen will earn an extra $25 for each foot measured above four feet, which, in their case, amounts to $275.
The $175,000 python-trapping pilot program would last for two months until early June.
It comes on the heels of last year’s Everglades Python Challenge, which saw 106 snakes turned in by amateur wranglers in less than a month. After having the pythons euthanized, the hunters were allowed to sell the valuable snake skin and meat, reported CNN.
According to the National Park Service’s website, more than 2,000 pythons have been removed from the Everglades since 2002, likely representing only a fraction of the total population.
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[H/T Daily Mail]
