Three people handling a python

Ian Bartoszek (far right) and his team catch a 215-pound Burmese python in Florida.

Conservancy of Southwest Florida 

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Python Patrol

Scientists recently caught the biggest Burmese python ever found in the U.S. But their work is far from over.

October 17, 2022
By Jasmine Ting
Wanted: Invasive Species
Watch a video to learn more about how invasive species disrupt ecosystems.

Scientists had been tracking the male Burmese python for months. The huge snake was nicknamed Dion. He slithered through the tall, thick grass of a forest near Everglades National Park in Florida. Experts hoped Dion would lead them to other pythons they could capture.

Last December, Dion spent a lot of time in a remote part of the forest. Wildlife scientist Ian Bartoszek and his team wanted to find out why. 

They used long knives to cut their way through tangled vines. When they found Dion, they also spotted a massive female python lurking in the bushes nearby!  

The three researchers tried to catch the snake. She whipped her thick tail and tried to escape. After about 15 minutes of wrestling, she finally tired out. Next came the hardest part. The team had to carry the 18-foot-long python to their truck. 

Back at their lab at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, the researchers put the snake on a scale. She weighed a whopping 215 pounds! The reptile is the largest Burmese python ever caught in Florida. 

But the snake’s record-setting size isn’t cause for celebration. For decades, Burmese pythons have been a threat to the Everglades ecosystem. These snakes are an invasive species. That’s an animal or a plant that is introduced to an area and harms native species. 

Pythons in Florida

Jim McMahon/Mapman®

Predator Problems 

Burmese pythons are native to Southeast Asia. They were first seen in the wild in Florida in 1979. Scientists think those pythons were pets that escaped or were released by their owners when they got too big.  

Adult Burmese pythons have few predators in the Everglades to keep their numbers in check. They also feast on nearly every animal, which has upset the food chain in the area. They kill by wrapping their bodies tightly around their prey until the victim’s bones break. Then they swallow the animal whole. 

Conservancy of Southwest Florida

Female Burmese pythons can lay up to 100 eggs at a time. 

Stop These Snakes!

Since 2012, it has been illegal to bring pythons into the U.S. Florida has also banned people from keeping them as pets.  

Still, experts say hundreds of thousands of pythons could be in the Everglades today. Despite their size, pythons are difficult to find. Their scaly, spotted skin is perfect camouflage. 

“They may be hiding in some thick grass at your feet, and you’d never know they were there,” says Bartoszek.

From 2017 to 2020, wildlife officials in Florida caught more than 5,000 pythons. The Conservancy of Southwest Florida focuses on capturing female snakes before they get a chance to lay eggs.

One of the most successful methods is putting trackers in male pythons, like Dion. The trackers send out signals that help scientists follow the snakes—and often lead them to large females. 

Bartoszek says the chances of eliminating all Burmese pythons from the Everglades are slim. But he’s not giving up.

“It’s not over till it’s over,” Bartoszek says.

What You Need to Know About the Everglades

  • Everglades National Park covers 1.5 million acres. That’s bigger than a million football fields. Most of the park is wetlands covered in a tall grasslike plant called saw grass.
  • Native Americans who first lived in the area called it “Pa-Hay-Okee.” That means “grassy waters.” European explorers later came up with the name Everglades. They combined the words forever and glade, which is a grassy open space. 
  • The park is known for its wildlife. It’s the only place in the U.S. where both alligators (below) and crocodiles live.
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  1. Why are Burmese pythons considered an invasive species in Florida?
  2. Why does the author note that adult Burmese pythons have few predators in the Everglades?
  3. Why are Burmese pythons hard to find in the Everglades, according to the article?
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