The 202-pound Burmese python was caught by Florida resident Carl Jackson
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/burmese-python-florida-020526-558277d453f1496aa4fbfd53a0d4f52e.jpg "Stock image of a burmese python in Florida")
Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- Florida resident Carl Jackson caught the second-heaviest invasive Burmese python ever captured in Florida on Tuesday, Jan. 13
- Jackson caught the 202-pound snake with the help of his wife, adopted son, and step-daughter
- Jackson works for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to prevent pythons from eliminating Florida’s native small mammals
Carl Jackson didn't expect such massive results when he set out to hunt pythons with his family on Tuesday, Jan. 13.
He was retracing his tracks at Big Cypress National Preserve outside of Naples, Florida, when he noticed python tracks on top of the tracks left by his truck. He immediately jumped out of his truck and followed the tracks into the underbrush, convinced he was pursuing a relatively small snake. What he found instead was a 202-pound, nearly 17-foot female python.
"When I grabbed her I thought, 'Oh crap, she's bigger than I thought!," Jackson told the Orlando Sentinel. In fact, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), the snake he caught was the second-heaviest invasive Burmese python captured in Florida.
After grabbing the snake behind its head, Jackson was dragged further into the brush, over red and black ant hills. It was then that he called for backup. "At that point, my adopted son Ryker (Young) got to me," said Jackson. "She [the snake] was starting to coil around me and squish me to the ground.”
Unfortunately, even over 6-foot Ryker wasn't enough to tame the python. He helped uncoil the snake from around Jackson, but Jackson's wife, Tasha Jackson, and stepdaughter, Jazzlyn Bateman, had to step in as well. Once all four family members were involved, they were able to tape the snake's mouth shut.
Even with the tape, the snake still resisted capture, nearly dragging Jackson into a canal before the man's family humanely killed her once and for all.
Jackson is a full-time, contracted Burmese python hunter for the FWC, and just one day before his 202-pound discovery, Jackson's wife and kids became certified assistants for the FWC's Removing Invasive Constrictors program.
Per the FWC, invasive Burmese pythons have contributed to the decline of native small mammals in Florida, including raccoons, opossums, bobcats, foxes, marsh rabbits, and cottontail rabbits. The snake that Jackson and his family killed contained 200 python eggs, meaning they potentially saved over 200 mammals.
Since moving from Utah to Florida last year, Jackson has already killed 91 pythons in the race to save Florida's small mammals. One of his previous kills was also massive, coming in at 17-feet, 10-inches, but the snake he hunted with the help of his family is the one he's most proud of.
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"This one is special to me, not just because of the size, but it was my first daytime catch, and my first catch with my family," Jackson added to the Orlando Sentinel, "because they had just gotten cleared to be assistants the day before."
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