University of Florida scientists determined the 128-pound female was not carrying eggs. Ultimately, he was able to kill the massive predator with a knife. Leon gave chase after spotting only 3 feet of the snake’s body protruding from roadside cover, then called for help after the python revealed its full length and began wrapping itself around his leg. The 18-foot, 8-inch female python captured in a rural part of Miami-Dade County by Jason Leon in 2013 reigned as Florida’s longest python for seven years until Pavlidis and Ausburn topped it in 2020. Snake Jason Leon hefts the coiled beast after a roadside battle University of Florida researchers put the python’s length in perspective. “Every python we catch can be potentially dangerous, but one this size? Lethal.” (F&S profiled Pavlidis and Ausburn in the feature story “Contract Killers,” which appeared in our Danger Issue.) 2. “I have never seen a snake anywhere this size, and my hands were shaking as I approached her,” Pavlidis wrote.
In an Instagram post, Pavlidis-who has caught hundreds of pythons and uses the social media handle snakeaholic-called it “a once-in-a-lifetime” catch.
Working for a python-elimination program run by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC) and the South Florida Water Management District, the pair battled the 104-pound female in a canal about 35 miles west of Miami.
The longest python ever captured in Florida-so far-is an 18-foot, 9-inch snake nabbed on October 2, 2020, by professional python hunters Kevin Pavlidis and Ryan Ausburn.
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