CUTLER BAY, Fla. — A South Florida man taking a morning stroll discovered a Burmese python and a nest containing 20 eggs that were tucked away underneath a sidewalk.
Eyi Danielo was walking in the Miami-Dade County town of Cutler Bay on May 23 when he saw the invasive species, the Miami Herald reported.
Danielo posted a video to his Instagram account with the headline, “Taking a walk and I see this.”
“That’s a snake right there, oh my God,” he can be heard on the video.
“These Burmese Pythons are getting too close to home,” he wrote in the caption of his post.
“I see something that look(s) like a pipe. I said ‘No, this is not a regular pipe. Wait, it’s a python!’” Danielo told WSVN. “And I know Burmese pythons are an invasive species.”
Danielo contacted the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Herald reported. The agency sent Guillermo Tapanes, a contractor with the South Florida Water Management District’s python removal program, to capture the 8-foot reptile, according to the newspaper.
The snake did not go willingly, biting Tapanes on the right hand as the contractor was removing the python.
“You know, trying to drag it out, the snake was grabbing onto roots underneath, so it was a tough one, he even got bit,” Danielo told WSVN.
According to the FWC website, the Burmese python is a large nonvenomous constrictor that is an invasive species. They are found primarily in or near the Everglades in South Florida.
For years, the snake has represented a threat to wildlife in South Florida.
Adult female pythons are capable of laying between 50 and 100 eggs each year, according to the FWC. The reptile typically mates between December and April and lays during the late spring, the Herald reported.
capable of laying between 50 and 100 eggs per year, according to the FWC. Their mating season in Florida occurs mainly between December and April, while nesting typically takes place in late spring and hatching occurs between July and August.
Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article315906677.html#storylink=cpy