Florida snake hunter catches 17-foot python after bloody battle
(Python Cowboy)
INDIANTOWN, Fla. - This is definitely a brag-worthy catch.
A Florida snake-hunter recently caught a massive python measuring about 17 feet long. Based on the footage he shared, the snake didn’t go down easy and it definitely got in some hits of its own.
Mike Kimmel is a state-contracted python hunter who gets paid by the state and receives bonuses based on the length of snake he catches, the Palm Beach Post reported. Even if that wasn’t the case, coming across a 17-foot-long python would still be pretty exciting.
Kimmel shared a photo on Instagram of the massive snake wrapped around his body. In the post, he explained that he found the snake around 11 a.m. According to him, he noticed the snake “almost immediately as soon as we crossed paths.
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“She definitely was not afraid of me,” Kimmel wrote, “and started to slowly cruise through the vegetation as I carefully walked next to her trying to gauge exactly how large she was... because of all the grass and weeds it was hard to tell but I could tell she was an absolute monster.”
Kimmel described grabbing the snake, which he said was 150 pounds of muscle. Unfortunately, during the struggle, the python bit Kimmel.
He wrote, “[She] only got me once but that’s all it took... I was punctured quite deep on my bicep and forearm, piercing an artery and hitting some nerves, I was lucky she didn’t latch on and that I was able to pull out of it.”
Fortunately, Kimmel was able to use the snake bag he brought along as a tourniquet. He eventually dragged the snake back to his boat, where he said he had a suppressed .22 pistol. After euthanizing the snake, he was able to get an unofficial measurement of 17 feet.
Since then, he posted graphic footage of the encounter on Instagram, which has been viewed more than 23,000 times. He plans on uploading a longer video of the encounter to his Youtube page on Friday.