05/10/2024

Zolfo Springs cousins wrangle 300-pound, 16-foot Burmese python on family property

A Florida family found a record 300-pound, 16-foot Burmese python on their property after one family member spotted something unusual that required a second glance.

Aaron Brown was driving down Parnell Road when he spotted something on his family’s property that required a second look.

“I drove past it and said, ‘That’s a big snake.’ I had my mother with me and she said, ‘Well, get out and get it.’ I said, ‘You get out and get it. If that joker catches me, you can’t help me,'” Aaron recalled.

That big snake turned out to be a 16-foot Burmese python. Aaron called his cousin, William Wilkinson, for help.

I told him. “Man, watch that thing; I’m on my way. We are going to ᴄᴀᴛᴄʜ that thing,” said William.

After it slithered into a culvert, Aaron, William, and William’s son ʜᴜɴᴛᴇʀ went to work.

“We were trying to pull him back and pull him back but he got back on us,” said William.

The family didn’t give up. After ʜᴏᴏᴋɪɴɢ and sʜᴏᴏᴛɪɴɢ the snake, the ꜰɪɢʜᴛ was over.

“Once we got him pulled out, it was like, ‘My God! What a snake!'” William recalled.

And it’s the biggest snake ever reported to be found in Zolfo Springs.

“I said I ain’t never seen one this big and never thought in my life I would have the opportunity to mess with something this big. This was one of my bucket list things,” he said.

“We measured him and laid him down and the two kids down beside him to get a rough idea and ended up finding a tape measure,” said William. It measured in at 16 feet, 4 inches and weighed 300 pounds.

“We’ve run these woods and run barefooted in and out and never seen anything like that big,” William said.

The family called in area wildman and snake ʜᴜɴᴛᴇʀ Dusty Crum.

“We are down in the Everglades trying to stop these pythons from migrating further north in all directions,” said Crum.

He took the snake to have it sᴋɪɴɴᴇᴅ and examined. Inside he found 100 eggs.

With the snake now ɢᴏɴᴇ, Aaron and William are keeping their eyes peeled for more snakes, just in case.

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