Most people would think twice about tangling with any kind of deadly snake.
But Jason Leon cheerfully got stuck in when he encountered the longest Burmese python ever captured in the wild in Florida.
He was driving down a country road at night when he spotted the 5.6m (18ft 8ins) beast.
Instead of hitting the accelerator, he jumped out of his car, grabbed the snake behind the head and started hauling it out of the undergrowth.
When it reacted by starting to coil itself around his leg, he killed it with a knife.
It’s the kind of no-nonsense approach to managing wildlife that tends to go down badly with animal lovers and environmentalists – but far from getting a telling-off, Jason has earned a pat on the back.
Burmese pythons in Florida – thought to be the descendants of escaped pets – are ideally suited to its humid swamps and pose a serious threat to the native eco-system.
‘Jason Leon’s nighttime sighting and capture of a Burmese python of more than 18ft in length is a notable accomplishment that set a Florida record,’ said Kristen Sommers of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
‘The FWC is grateful to him both for safely removing such a large Burmese python and for reporting its capture.’
The non-venomous constrictor, found in Miami-Dade County, was turned over for examination by staff at the University of Florida’s Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Centre.
