MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — While you're on a trip in the Everglades, you might be expecting to see an alligator or a Burmese Python – but a visitor recently caught an even more interesting site.
Katina Boychew, a resident of Cape Coral, was able to capture on video the moment a gator made a constrictor snake into a meal on March 29 while at the Everglades National Park.
The video starts off by showing the scaley reptile in a shallow pool of water with something in its mouth. It isn't until the gator whips the body of the snake around that it's obvious it had a python in its mouth.
The gator munches on its head a couple more times before the video cuts out.
"I was just amazed," Boychew said in a statement. "[The video was a] once-in-a-lifetime catch."
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Burmese python is a large nonvenomous constrictor that is an invasive species in the Sunshine State.
The pythons are mostly found in and around the Everglades ecosystem in South Florida where "the snake represents a threat to native wildlife."
"The FWC works with partners to manage Burmese pythons in a variety of ways," the agency explained on its website. "However, we encourage the public to get involved, too!"
Pythons have to be humanely killed onsite at the time of the capture, FWC explains. Live transport of the snake is not allowed,
For more information on how to remove a python in Florida, click here.