Florida wildlife officials were doing a double-take Wednesday.
On the same day the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission revealed a 17-foot, 9-inch Burmese python was captured in the Everglades, a second snake of the exact length was found farther east in Broward County.
"The Python Action Team has us seeing double," FWC officials wrote Wednesday on Facebook.
Burmese pythons are a nonvenomous, invasive reptile found within the Everglades ecosystem, the Naples Daily News reported.
The Python Action Team has us seeing double! The same day we shared the story about a 17’ 9” nonnative python removed...
Posted by MyFWC Florida Fish and Wildlife on Wednesday, August 28, 2019
The first Burmese python caught this past weekend was in the Big Cypress National Park near Ochopee. Hours after the FWC posted a photo of the reptile on Facebook, Python Action Team member George Perkins arrived at the organization's Davie office.
The second python was the same length as the first one, but weighed 121 pounds, which was nearly 40 pounds heavier than the first snake, wildlife officials said.
According to WTVT, the first snake weighed 83 pounds, 12 ounces. The snake was caught just after midnight Friday by Kevin Reich, the television station reported.
According to the FWC, its team members have now removed 147 invasive snakes this month.
The longest python caught by the Action Team was an 18-foot female trapped in December 2018, Newsweek reported. According to the FWC, the longest python ever caught in Florida was a female measuring 18 feet, 9 inches, the magazine reported. It was caught in 2013.
Because of the Burmese python's invasive status, the reptiles can be "humanely killed on private lands" with no permit required, according to the FWC's website.
Cox Media Group
