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Legendary ‘Python Cowboy’ bags mother of all snakes

Hunter found 60+ eggs inside nearly 16-foot python

EVERGLADES NAT'L PARK, Fla. – One of the most famous python hunters of them all in the Florida Everglades made a catch of a lifetime.

Mike Kimmel, who is known as the ‘Python Cowboy’ by fellow snake hunters, bagged a nearly 16-foot Burmese python recently.

Kimmel then got a big surprise while gutting the massive snake. He found more than 60 eggs inside of her.

Mike Kimmel, who is known as the 'Python Cowboy' by fellow snake hunters, bagged a nearly 16-foot Burmese python recently. (Courtesy: @PythonCowboy)

Florida Gulf Coast University Snake Biologist Andrew Durso say the kill was like finding a needle in a haystack.

“The probability of seeing a python, even with someone who has been trained to look for one, is about 1%, said Durso. “For every 100 pythons, about 99 go unnoticed.”

The ‘Python Cowboy has been busy so far this year.

“We have removed more than 20 pythons,” said Kimmel. “And based on where we are hunting, almost all of them were full of eggs or were on an active nest.”

If you want to get on the hunt, The Florida Python Challenge runs from Aug. 4 through Aug. 13.

There is still time to register.

Every year, the state offers big bucks for the hunters who bag the most and biggest invasive snakes.


About the Author
Steve Owen headshot

Steve Owen is the Assistant News Director at WPLG, and helps lead the daily news operations.

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