3 men catch monster Burmese python in Florida Everglades. Was it biggest ever captured?
Zach Hoffman, Jan Gianello and Justice Sargood caught the invasive snake near Everglades City just after midnight on May 31.
The constrictor was so large that Hoffman had to get a bigger tape measure.
"At first we measured with a 15-foot tape measure that we had lying around, and it wasn't long enough," Hoffman said. "Then I took a measurement with a 25-foot tape. When I read the number out loud we couldn't believe it."
First identified in Everglades National Park in 2000, the Burmese python may be the most destructive foreign animal in the park's history.
The massive constrictors can grow to more than 18 feet and weigh over 200 pounds.
Did the trio's catch break the record for the longest python ever captured?
Here's what to know about the behemoth catch and the biggest pythons ever caught in Florida:
Registration for the 2025 Florida Python Challenge — a 10-day event to remove invasive Burmese pythons — is open.
This year's hunt runs from July 11 to July 20, Florida Fish and Wildlife announced May 15.
Participants can win money prizes in several categories, including a $10,000 Ultimate Grand Prize.
FWC works with partners and the public to hunt and kill the snakes, including the annual Florida Python Challenge.
The 2025 Florida Python Challenge starts at 12:01 a.m. July 11 and ends at 5 p.m. July 20, Florida Fish and Wildlife announced May 15.
There are $25,000 in cash prizes up for grabs for this year's hunt.
The top prize of $10,000 goes to the person who catches the most pythons. Those with the most catches in the Novice, Professional and Military categories win $2,500, while runners-up in each group receive $1,500, and $1,000 is awarded for the longest pythons caught.
There is no established firearm season during the time of the event. The use of firearms during the competition is prohibited.
Burmese pythons captured in Florida must be humanely killed. While they are not protected in Florida, anti-cruelty law still applies.
Step 1: The method should result in the animal losing consciousness immediately. These tools should result in the immediate loss of consciousness:
Captive bolt
Firearms (not allowed in the Florida Python Challenge and otherwise subject to property-specific and local rules) or pre-charged pneumatic (PCP) air guns
Step 2: The animal's brain should be destroyed by 'pithing' which prevents it from regaining consciousness.
The invasive snakes are distributed across more than a thousand square miles in the Everglades and southern Florida. Burmese pythons have been found across the state and are slithering north. They may even reach Georgia.
At 12:30 a.m. on May 31, Zach Hoffman, Jan Gianello and Justice Sargood were on their way home from an uneventful night of python hunting when they decided to check one last spot and spotted a huge Burmese python 'laying halfway on the road, half in the ditch."
Sargood grabbed the python's head and wrestled with it, while Hoffman and Gianello controlled the rest of the snake's body to keep it from coiling too tightly.
➤ 'We couldn't believe it': Giant python wrangled, caught by 3 hunters in Everglades
Once they had control over the large python, it was humanely euthanized.
They attempted to measure the snake with a 15-foot tape measure, but it came up short. A 25-foot tape measure did the trick, and the hunters determined the massive python to be 16 feet, 8 inches long. The hefty snake weighed 105 pounds.
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.
The previous record was held by python hunters Ryan Ausburn and Kevin Pavlidis who captured a python measuring a whopping 18-feet 9-inches in 2020.
In 2013, Jason Leon captured a then-record 18-foot python in southeastern Miami-Dade County. The massive snake weighed 128 pounds.
Licensed python hunter Mike Kimmel, alone on a spoil island in the Florida Everglades, caught a 17-foot python in 2020.
Conservancy of Southwest Florida biologists caught the heaviest Burmese python ever recorded in the Florida Everglades in 2022. The colossal female python weighed an eye-popping 215 pounds and was nearly 18 feet long.
A 198-pound Burmese python was captured in November 2023 in the Big Cypress Preserve, making it the second-heaviest ever caught in the Sunshine State. The massive snake was 17 feet, 2 inches long.
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This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Burmese python caught in Everglades. Is massive snake largest ever?
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