Mike Kimmel, otherwise known in Florida as the “Python Cowboy” recently captured a enormous 16-foot python that had 60 eggs inside of her.
Python Hunter Captures Large Python
Mike Kimmel aka the ‘Python Cowboy’ has made a huge name for himself in The Florida Everglades where he and his dogs captures and removes invasive species, primarily iguanas and Burmese pythons.
Kimmel works hand in hand with his dogs Moose and Otto to root out the invasive Burmese pythons and they have been working tirelessly throughout ‘nesting season’ in Florida.
Mike Kimmel and Otto captured a 16-foot Burmese python that had 60 eggs in its belly. The eggs are the size of grapefruits.
“A removal like this is absolutely crucial for our native wildlife in that ecosystem and WILL make a difference,” he wrote in his July 6 post about the snake. “A python this size can eat anything in the Florida Everglades, as I’ve proven with the multiple adult alligators that I’ve rescued from being eaten by pythons (3 separate times).”
Kimmel sells custom-made leather goods fashioned from python and iguna skins.
The Python Cowboy captures invasive species all year long.
Kimmel made local headlines back in 2020 when he bagged a 17-foot female python weighing more than 150 pounds.
Python Cowboy
“My Secret Weapon To Battling Florida’s Invasive Python Problem. Today moose and I are heading out to python island to see if we can catch a monster python. Florida has a big problem with pythons but I have a secret weapon and that’s Moose and soon to be Otto. These two dogs can sniff out these pythons and allow me to catch way more pythons than I have ever caught in the past.”
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Pythons Are An Invasive Species
The Everglades area is home to millions of acres of wilderness that have long been overrun with the destructive non-native reptiles.
According to the Global Invasive Species Database, Burmese pythons can exceed 20 feet in length, and the females tend to outmeasure the males. They normally lay between 12 and 36 eggs, but they’re capable of producing up to 100 eggs per clutch. Once hatched, a python can thrive in the Everglades for 25 years or more.
According to the Everglades Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area
Burmese pythons are a threat to native wildlife and ecosystems of South Florida. Their presence has led to severe declines in Everglades mammal populations. They are known to eat imperiled species such as wood storks, Key Largo woodrats, and limpkins, as well as large animals such as alligators, white-tailed deer, and bobcats. They also compete with native predators for food, habitat, and space. Other species of nonnative constrictor would likely have similar impacts to Burmese pythons if they were to grow in number in South Florida. Thanks to the rapid response of wildlife managers, Northern African pythons have not invaded South Florida beyond a small area of Miami.
This nesting season, the Python Cowboy says he’s relying heavily on his dog’s keen sense of smell to locate and dig up denning pythons hidden deep underground.
“We are up to almost 500 live python eggs removed and we are only half way through the season,” Kimmel wrote in another post from May 29.
“While most python crews stick to roadways and levees, me and my crew are working hard out in the more remote areas that are left unmanaged.”
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