A 202-pound Burmese python captured in Big Cypress National Park in January remains Florida’s heaviest catch of 2026 as of Sept. 24, according to the Palm Beach Post. The female snake is the second-heaviest Burmese python recorded in the state.
Carl Jackson caught the python while hunting in Big Cypress with his family. The snake measured 6 feet, 10 inches long, according to the report. No heavier python had been reported despite state removal efforts, including July’s 10-day Florida Python Challenge and the South Florida Water Management District’s monthly Python Elimination Program.
In Palm Beach County, Burmese pythons are not considered a major hot spot, but Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission contractors have removed at least 56 of the invasive snakes from the county since January. Those removals occurred in southern and southwestern wetlands, away from the county’s more densely populated areas.
Amy Kight, chief executive of Busch Wildlife Sanctuary in Jupiter Farms, told the Palm Beach Post in July that pythons tend to avoid people and that there are not enough suitable habitat pockets near urban areas to draw them in. The species is established across a broader South Florida range, from south of Lake Okeechobee to Key Largo and from western Broward County west to Collier County.
Florida’s all-time heaviest recorded Burmese python was a 215-pound female caught by Conservancy of Southwest Florida biologists in the Everglades in 2022. That snake measured just under 18 feet long.
Under Florida Fish and Wildlife guidance, captured Burmese pythons must be euthanized humanely at the capture site and may not be transported alive. Although the invasive snakes are not protected in Florida, anti-cruelty laws still apply.
