{"id":371190,"date":"2025-12-26T12:48:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-26T12:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/371190\/"},"modified":"2025-12-26T12:48:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-26T12:48:10","slug":"florida-alligator-tows-massive-python-through-everglades-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/371190\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida alligator tows massive python through Everglades: Video"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Here&#8217;s a look back at an unusual sight.<\/p>\n<p>A large <a href=\"https:\/\/www.naplesnews.com\/story\/news\/environment\/2024\/11\/26\/alligators-florida-most-gators-highest-population-infested-lake\/76591697007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">alligator<\/a> was caught on video dragging a colossal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.naplesnews.com\/story\/news\/2024\/12\/02\/florida-burmese-pythons-cold-temperatures-weather\/76705507007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Burmese python<\/a> through the water in the Florida Everglades.<\/p>\n<p>The video, shot from the observation tower at Shark Valley by Everglades National Park by tour guide Kelly Alvarez on Thanksgiving Day in 2024, shows <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/nation\/2024\/12\/03\/alligator-python-video-florida-everglades\/76729375007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the alligator, nicknamed &#8220;Godzilla,&#8221; holding the dead python<\/a> in its jaws and swimming along the water&#8217;s surface, dragging the snake along.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s huge,&#8221; someone says in the video, &#8220;That&#8217;s a really, really big python.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Alvarez told USA TODAY she <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/nation\/2024\/12\/03\/alligator-python-video-florida-everglades\/76729375007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">estimates the alligator to be 10 to 12 feet long<\/a> and the python in the video appears to be close to twice the gator&#8217;s length.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;You know it&#8217;s something serious when it&#8217;s something we haven&#8217;t seen before,&#8221; another tour guide says in the video.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I have seen many alligators eating pythons out here\u2026.I have never, ever, ever seen a python that large,&#8221; Alvarez told USA TODAY.<\/p>\n<p>See the video below.<\/p>\n<p>What&#8217;s the largest Burmese python caught in Florida?<\/p>\n<p>Burmese pythons are among\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.naplesnews.com\/story\/news\/2024\/06\/26\/burmese-pythons-florida-everglades-biggest-longest-heaviest-invasive-snakes\/74196022007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the largest snakes<\/a>\u00a0in the world, with adult animals\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu\/florida-snake-id\/snake\/burmese-python\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">averaging between 10 and 16 feet long<\/a>, according to the University of Florida.<\/p>\n<p>A group of python hunters caught\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.naplesnews.com\/story\/news\/environment\/2023\/07\/12\/burmese-python-largest-world-record-caught-in-south-florida\/70406037007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">the longest Burmese python ever measured<\/a>\u00a0on July 10, 2023, in the Big Cypress National Preserve in eastern Collier County.<\/p>\n<p>The monster\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.naplesnews.com\/story\/news\/local\/environment\/2023\/07\/12\/record-sized-burmese-python-caught-in-florida-covers-19-feet\/70407027007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">snake was 19 feet long<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.naplesnews.com\/story\/tech\/science\/environment\/2022\/06\/22\/record-breaking-18-foot-burmese-python-caught-florida-everglades\/7694354001\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">The heaviest Burmese python ever recorded<\/a>\u00a0was caught by Conservancy of Southwest Florida biologists in the Florida Everglades\u00a0in 2022. The colossal female python weighed an eye-popping 215 pounds and was nearly 18 feet long.<\/p>\n<p>Invasive Burmese pythons wreak havoc on Everglades ecosystem<\/p>\n<p>Burmese pythons are an invasive species established across more than a thousand square miles of South Florida, including Everglades National Park, Big Cypress National Preserve and Collier-Seminole State Park.<\/p>\n<p>The constrictors have few predators and prey on native species,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.naplesnews.com\/story\/news\/environment\/2023\/06\/06\/how-many-wild-critters-does-it-take-to-grow-a-13-foot-python\/70184948007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">eating just about anything<\/a>\u00a0from field mice to deer.<\/p>\n<p>According to a 2012 study, they&#8217;ve contributed to the decline of raccoons, opossums, bobcats, foxes, and marsh and cottontail rabbits.<\/p>\n<p>Watch alligator pull huge Burmese python through water in Florida<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;right:0;bottom:0;width:100%;height:100%;z-index:2\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/76732254007-trnd-alligator-drags-python-in-water-thumb.jpg\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"vidplayicon\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/appservices\/universal-web\/universal\/icons\/icon-play-alt-white.svg\" alt=\"play\" style=\"height:40px;margin:auto 18px auto 27px;width:40px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Gator drags huge Burmese python through Florida&#8217;s Everglades<\/p>\n<p>Everglades National Park guests were startled by an alligator&#8217;s enormous catch: A Burmese python.<\/p>\n<p>Support local journalism\u00a0by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/cm.usatodaynetwork.com\/network-regional?region=florida\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">subscribing to a\u00a0Florida news organization.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Here&#8217;s a look back at an unusual sight. A large alligator was caught on video dragging a colossal&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":371191,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[13716,182,17533,228,13710,88,2808,47871,10719,3729,13723,20576,34645,3,573,41543,15360,29821,13470,34647,6107,6207,47873,17532,17538,79,13546,13717,2427,13692,6671,20633,1977,201],"class_list":{"0":"post-371190","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-affiliate","9":"tag-ai","10":"tag-amphibians","11":"tag-arts","12":"tag-enabled","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-florida","15":"tag-gardens","16":"tag-highlights","17":"tag-local","18":"tag-local-affiliate-arts-u0026-entertainment","19":"tag-local-affiliate-travel","20":"tag-negative","21":"tag-news","22":"tag-of","23":"tag-offbeat","24":"tag-online","25":"tag-online-video","26":"tag-overall","27":"tag-overall-negative","28":"tag-parks","29":"tag-regional","30":"tag-regional-parks-u0026-gardens","31":"tag-reptiles","32":"tag-reptiles-u0026-amphibians","33":"tag-science","34":"tag-story","35":"tag-story-highlights-ai-enabled","36":"tag-travel","37":"tag-u0026","38":"tag-university","39":"tag-university-of-florida","40":"tag-video","41":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=371190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371190\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/371191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=371190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=371190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=371190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}