~19 foot Python killed in Florida.

Looks like this is the key to the deal: "Leon once owned Burmese pythons as pets and has experience handling this nonvenomous constrictor species."

Grabbing it by the head and pulling it out of the bushes? Not for the faint of heart, for sure.

I read that it was killed with a knife. What would be an effective firearm to kill something like that?

Phew, it's just a snake. For a minute there I thought we had lost another Colt revolver.

I don't ever want to go back to Florida.

"shoooooooooot clint shooooooooooooooot" I mean Leon

.22mag most likely their skulls arnt very thick (ive owned one and a nile monitor) You would have to be sure to get a brain shot tho, and to watch the teeth* when ur picking it up. Ive seen a dead rattle snake bite into the bottom of a boot with its head removed, ive also seen em strike with 1/3rd of their body missing (dies soon after that tho) I love exotic animals and have a passion for LARGE reptiles but i understand that they would pose a risk to people living their, especially sick, young or elderly people. Maybe its time to open up another type of game season ? Wouldent mind having a couple skins....or a dozen or two

What about something like a shotgun with some 00 buck? I don't know about the rest of you, but if I stumbled across a 18 foot snake, pucker factor would kick in and I'm not confident I could make a head shot on a little snake head. I wouldn't want to make a less than perfect shot and only end up making it highly upset with me, a little room for error would be nice haha

"Leon stopped his car, grabbed the snake behind its head and started dragging it out of a brush."

Wow! I'm not afraid of snakes in general; I've handled enough of them but I'm pretty sure this crossed that blurry line between brave and stupid!

one thing to be sure of would be the inefficiency of pistol caliber snake shot. i've shot many a water mocassin with a .357 and always thought it was a bit overkill, but with a 19' python, i might feel undergunned.

that guy deserves a tv show.

Florida Pythons

They are eating their way through the Glades, you can hardly find a swamp rabbit anymore I hear. This year, Florida opened it's first "snake hunt."
A lot of adventurous types, a few experienced pros...and a few snakes, but not the harvest the state Game and Fish were hoping for.
They are now all the way down into the upper Keys.
I'm afraid they are here to stay now forever. I'd not hesitate to take one on, but would prefer to do it with a headshot from any firearm.
Guess a shotgun with buckshot would be the best for the dispatcher and the "dispatched."
It won't be long until they make it an open year round event, and I'd recommend a bounty. They'll be like cyotes, the more you kill the more you seem to see.

lpsharp88 said:

I read that it was killed with a knife. What would be an effective firearm to kill something like that?

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It isn't wearing kevlar.... A .22lr to the head would kill it.

Looks like im going to florida in snake season pythons are pretty brave ambush predators and if you know where they hide it shouldent be too hard to find em and pick em off. How bad is the monitor lizard problem in florida? Id catch one not kill it, looking to replace my pet (died due to being severely infected before i got him)

How many young do they have and how frequently?

They are extremely difficult to locate. Unless you find one on the move or basking then they really don't move around a lot and their camo is phenomenal. A giant like this one probably doesn't move more than a few feet in any given day since they are ambush predators and can go for months without eating.

"Cold" in south Florida is a relative term with temps rarely reaching freezing below the lake. It happens on occasion(didn't happen this year that I recall) and that is the reason these jungle reptiles can survive. We have them on the farms just south of Okeechobee but I have only seen one and that was last year. The sugar cane crews rarely see them and that is where they will tend to hang out in the area we farm.

I've seen researchers who pretty much walk blind. Maybe its just me and my reptile hunting as a kid, rattle snakes, copper heads, cotton mouths, and green snakes. they were all fun to catch (with a stick mind you) cant be afraid to get a little wet tho and thats sad I'd love to have replaced my pet looks like they would want to get rid of them anyway possible, including capture and keep well that nixes that trip. I'll add to the topic tho, here in southern missouri I cought a baby rock python in my yard (a few months old) It was near the end of winter (last years winter) so it had to be someones pet. I doubt it could survive here in the winter but who knows stranger things have happened. ended up giving it away to a kid who has alot of large reptiles as pets. I dont fancy keeping a snake that could eat and would eat the family pets.

You do not hunt pythons. Rather they hunt you...

You don't need to kill it. You just need to be able to out-sprint your slower buddy.

Geno

What would be an effective firearm to kill something like that?

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They shoot 12 ft+ gators with .22s. No reason it wouldn't work just as well on a large snake. Their heads can't be that hard.

A friend of mine went out and didn't see one. This guy is from the Everglades born and raised. They have phenomenal camo and as mentioned don't move around a whole lot even when you are right on top of them.