Florida Man at it again… but this time, it’s not the kind of front page news that’s going to land him in jail.
Python snakes are some of the largest snakes in the world. Native to Africa, Asia and Australia, pythons are invasive in Florida, meaning they aren’t natural and out compete other things in the environment causing harm to the area.
Reaching lengths up to 18 feet in Florida, they are constrictors, so they kill their prey by wrapping their bodies around them and squeezing until the prey suffocates.
Pythons are not picky eaters and will eat a wide variety of prey, including small mammals, birds and reptiles. As they grow larger, their prey become larger too. These large snakes have been known to prey on deer in Florida as well. Since they are able to separate their jaws, they can fit very large animals in their mouths.
These large snakes have been known to prey on deer in Florida.
Pythons in Florida have also caused significant harm to the ecosystem, competing with native predators like alligators and panthers for food.
This hunter was out in Ochopee, Florida, when he came across a python trying to have a meal in the form of a deer. The man walks up on the scene with the snake wrapped around the deer trying to constrict it.
He goes to work and tries to free the dying deer. The camera goes shaky and it sounds like he fires a number of shots at the snake, ultimately killing it, but he gets it moving and off of the deer.
The deer sits still as if it is not going to make it, however, the man talks to it and moves closer as it takes off into safety.
That was a close one.