According to a Facebook post and accompanying photos, the “Python Cowboy,” a man named Mike Kimmel, recently exterminated an invasive snake in the Florida Everglades and stumbled upon a remarkable revelation.
As per Kimmel’s Facebook post on Thursday, he, along with his python-sniffing dog Otto, successfully apprehended and humanely put down a 16-foot Burmese python. To their astonishment, the snake turned out to be pregnant with over 60 eggs.
Kimmel, widely recognized as the “Python Cowboy” on social media, explained to Newsweek, “Even before dissecting her, I could discern that she was gravid with eggs based on the plumpness of her tail’s base. It’s a clear indication that they are primed for laying. Although I didn’t acquire the snake’s precise weight, she was undoubtedly over 100 pounds.”
Burmese pythons pose a significant threat to the Everglades ecosystem as they prey upon birds, mammals, and reptiles, including alligators, as confirmed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Female pythons have the capacity to lay anywhere from 50 to 100 eggs in a single clutch.
Kimmel emphasized the crucial importance of removing such pythons from the area in his Facebook post, stating, “This extraction is absolutely vital for preserving our native wildlife within this ecosystem, and it will unquestionably yield positive results. A python of this magnitude can devour any creature inhabiting the Everglades, as I’ve witnessed when rescuing multiple adult alligators from the clutches of pythons on three separate occasions. These invasive snakes have now ascended to the top of the food chain... until man and dog intervene.”
Here’s one of the larger gravid pythons that Otto located for me this nesting season. She was nearly 16 feet long and...
Posted by Martin County Trapping & Wildlife Rescue on Thursday, July 6, 2023
©2023 Cox Media Group
Sign Up
