Watch a Man Survive a Vicious Bite and Wrestle a 17-Foot Python

Burmese pythons are formidable animals. Even though they are not generally dangerous to humans, they can be when threatened. In this video clip, a 17-foot, 7-inch python severely bites a man who is hunting it in the Florida Everglades. Keep reading to learn more about the Burmese python!

Burmese Pythons in Florida

As you may be able to tell by the name, the Burmese python is not native to Florida but to Southeast Asia. However, they are plentiful in South Florida, particularly around the Everglades. People first brought them to the United States as pets. Some of these snake owners ended up releasing the pythons into the wild, and they established a breeding population.

At this point, the Burmese python is an unwanted invasive species within the Everglades. There are programs in place to eliminate them. Not only do they compete with native animals for food, but they have killed many native animals as well.

Raccoon, opossum, and bobcat populations have gone down significantly in the past decades. Additionally, cottontail rabbits, marsh rabbits, and foxes can’t be found anywhere in the Everglades at this time.

Experts have come to reasonable conclusions that the Burmese pythons are the direct cause of the decline in these populations. These animals have all been found regularly in the stomachs of Burmese pythons that were removed from the area.

Burmese pythons prey upon many types of animals in Florida. These include not only mammals but also birds and reptiles. In some cases, people have found evidence that they consume alligators as well!

What Can Burmese Pythons Do to Humans?

Burmese pythons are one of the largest types of snakes in the world. In Florida, they average between six and nine feet long, with the largest one ever captured being over 18 feet long. The python in the video below was over 17 feet long, making it one of the largest ever caught in Florida.

Generally, the Burmese python is not dangerous to humans or pets. They are non-venomous, and the smaller pythons don’t pose much of a threat at all.

However, this isn’t to say that the Burmese python can’t be harmful to humans. Larger pythons have very large, sharp teeth that can severely pierce a person’s skin. While they probably couldn’t eat an adult human, they may be able to eat a small child. They can also eat dogs and cats.

The good news is that these snakes usually only bite when people bother them. In the video below, the man pursues the snake and pulls it from its journey before receiving a nasty bite on his arm.

In situations where pythons struck at humans who were not intentionally bothering them, minor injuries were the most that occurred. It is believed that the attacks were a result of aborted feeding behavior – the snakes stopped before biting when they realized that the people were too large for them to eat.

Typically, pythons are evasive and secretive in the presence of humans and won’t try to attack them.

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