When you think of giant snakes, usually the Amazon or Malaysia are places that come to mind were you might find one, but little did we know, the biggest one would be found right here in the  United States. In the Florida Everglades, scientists studying the wildlife in the Big Cypress National Preserve, removed a seventeen-foot long Burmese python weighing 140 pounds, and contained 73 still developing eggs. Average pythons in the area only reach 10 feet.

Did you know the average high school student is 5 foot 3 inches, meaning that that python is over three times that size. This snake may seem pretty big, but it happens not to actually be only the second longest here in America. The first was claimed to be 18 feet and only 100 pounds, and was also found in Florida, many years ago.  Now to some, that may seem terrifying that a snake of that size is in our country, but after doing extensive studying on the python, it and its eggs were humanely euthanized. According to USA today, pythons such as this one, that are not native to the area, have been ravaging the South-Florida ecosystem. The decision to kill the snake as well as its eggs, was a key step in fixing the rapidly growing python infestation. The issue has gotten so extensive that on occasions, Florida has competitions for hunters to kill as many of the 100,000 pythons that populate the area.