Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office assists Collier County with invasive 14-foot Burmese python

COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. — Three visiting deputies from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office assisted the Collier County Sheriff’s Office with an invasive 14-foot-long invasive Burmese python during hurricane Ian cleanup.

Shortly after 9:30 p.m. on October 26, deputies with the CCSO and JSO responded to an East Naples neighborhood after a resident reported seeing a large invasive Burmese python in the buses between two homes.

One of the JSO deputies reportedly humanely euthanized the 14-foot-long snake.

Non-native Burmese pythons have established a breeding population in South Florida due to being imported as exotic pets and released into the wild by owners who are unable to take care of them due to their large size.

The large snakes are known to eat imperiled species such as wood storks, Key Largo woodrats, and limpkins, as well as large animals such as alligators, white-tailed deer and bobcats. This also causes competition with local predators for food, habitat and space.

Jacksonville deputies will not have a snakeskin to take home as the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation removed the snake’s carcass for proper disposal.

Members of JSO have been assisting Collier County with hurricane Ian recovery efforts and the Collier County Sheriff’s Office.

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