National Park Service officials have reported the captured of a Burmese python

National Park Service officials said they captured an 18-foot Burmese python along a popular wildlife-watching trail in the Everglades National Park. The snake was found along the Shark Valley tram road earlier this month, according to NBC News. US Geological Survey officials say that snakes of this size are able to eat animals like deer and alligators.

According to state wildlife officials, the longest python ever caught in Florida was 18 feet, 8 inches long.

There are estimates that South Florida has several thousands to 100,000 or more snakes.

UF Croc Docs Wildlife Biologist Ed Metzger and Biological Intern Sky Button recently removed one of the largest Burmese Pythons ever captured in Florida. The largest snakes to have been captured in the Everglades have been over 18 feet long and have weighed more than 150 pounds. It’s considered an invasive species… one that began emerging in Florida decades ago due in large part to the global pet trade. The python was later euthanized.

Corrigan said a necropsy revealed that the female snake had not reproduced, and the snake’s stomach was empty.

In May 2013, a 19-foot-long python was killed by a man who spotted it along a road, Christian Post reported at the time.

“While this individual was among the largest of the pythons that have been removed, it was not record-setting”, Corrigan explained.

Kristen Sommers, the Florida Wildlife Commission’s exotic species coordination leader, praised the man’s efforts by killing the giant python in Florida in order to help reduce the species’ population.