'We couldn't believe it': Giant python wrangled, caught by 3 hunters in Everglades

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2 days ago

The famous quote from the movie Jaws is "You're gonna need a bigger boat." This line is spoken by Chief Martin Brody (played by Roy Scheider) to Quint (played by Robert Shaw) during the film.
The line is used to emphasize the inadequacy of their current boat in the face of the shark.
For Zach Hoffman, Jan Gianello and Justice Sargood it wasn't a bigger boat they needed when they caught a massive Burmese python on May 31.
They needed a bigger tape measure.
"Working in construction, I have a pretty good eye for measurements, so when numbers started to get thrown around about the length, I knew they were short of what we had caught," Hoffman said of the 105-pound female invasive snake. "At first we measured with a 15-foot tape measure that we had lying around, and it wasn't long enough. Then I took a measurement with a 25-foot tape. When I read the number out loud we couldn't believe it."
They measured the python at 16 feet, 8 inches. It weighed 105 pounds with no contents in its stomach or eggs.
"Two hundred inches on the button," Hoffman said.
The snake was caught near Everglades City, Hoffman said. They caught it at 12:30 a.m. on their way home after an uneventful night of hunting Florida's most wanted invasive species.
"We decided to check one last spot on our drive home." Hoffman said. "A few miles in, Justice said (from the front seat of the truck) 'IIs that a shadow?''.
Hoffman was in the back seat.
"I looked up and said 'That's no shadow'. Before the truck could even come to a complete stop we had jumped out and ran over to this snake which was laying halfway on the road, half in the ditch," Hoffman said.
Without hesitation Hoffman said Justice grabbed the python by the head and started to wrestle with the snake.
"Jan and myself controlled the rest of the body so it didn't coil up too tight," Hoffman said. "As soon as we had control over the snake, it was ethically dispatched. Then the realization of what we just caught started to set in."
Not quite a record, but a sizeable catch to say the least.
More: With Florida Python Challenge set for summer, a look at largest Burmese pythons ever caught
"We were ecstatic," said Hoffman, who is 25 and is originally from Boston. "We made phone calls to friends that we knew were out hunting, sent texts to family, it was a big deal for us."
The photo has made the rounds on social media, including Hoffman's Instagram page @SWFL_REAPER.
The experience of hunting pythons paid off with this catch, Hoffman said.
"This is none of our first rodeos. I've been hunting for two years now. I introduced Justice and Jan to the sport a year ago, where we ended up catching our previous biggest (10 feet, 2 inches). This snake blows all of our best snakes out of the water," Hoffman said.
Hoffman estimated that as a group, he, Gianello and Sargoodwe've have caughtmore than 100 pythons.
"Justice and Jan have been hitting it hard, putting 25 hours a week into python hunting, whereas I can only go a night or two a month with them," Hoffman said. "They have earned this snake, and hopefully a spot on FWC's Python hunting program as well."
After the kill the snake was skinned with portions of its meat donated and consumed among friends and family. Hoffman said the skin will be tanned and put on display inside the house.
It was an unforgettable experience for the commercial plumber from Boston, Massachusetts, who has lived in SWFL for four years.
"We need more people out there eliminating these snakes," Hoffman said. "We will never be able to stop them, but we can put a big dent on the negative impacts they have on our natural wildlife. However, as big of an ecological threat these snakes may impose on our natural resources, the biggest threat is over development."
A group of python hunters caught the longest Burmese python ever measured on July 10, 2023, in the Big Cypress National Preserve in eastern Collier County.
The monster snake was 19 feet long.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Burmese python, 16 feet long, caught by trio in in Florida Everglades