Photo courtesy South Florida Water Management District

Members of the Python Action Team set up to reduce the number of invasive pythons in south Florida under the Python Elimination Program recently captured an 18-foot, 9-inch Burmese python that apparently sets a new length record for snakes captured in the program.

Ryan Ausburn and Kevin Pavlidis caught the behemoth of a snake, which weighed a whopping 104 pounds

The removal of the pythons is an effort to reduce predation on native wildlife, which has been dramatic since the snakes began multiplying in the Everglades some 20 years ago. The giant snakes have been found to prey on water birds, all sorts of small mammals--which have largely disappeared in vast swaths where the snakes are most abundant--and even on alligators and deer occasionally.

Ausburn and Pavlidis make a living selling products made of snake skin leather. Reportedly, the skin of this snake will go into making special footballs for the 2021 Super Bowl in Tampa.

See more about the Python Action Team here: MyFWC.com/Python