{"id":888348,"date":"2026-10-20T02:08:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T02:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/888348\/"},"modified":"2026-10-20T02:08:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T02:08:11","slug":"python-hunters-snag-puerto-ricos-largest-reticulated-python-on-record-after-it-was-spotted-strangling-pet-cat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/888348\/","title":{"rendered":"Python hunters snag Puerto Rico’s largest reticulated python on record after it was spotted strangling pet cat"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A professional python hunter who doubles as a professional alligator wrestler, according to his Instagram bio, helped catch “the longest live captured reticulated python<\/a> ever caught in Puerto Rico<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

Working with Proyectos Retic<\/a>, a group of python hunters in Puerto Rico who collect data and specimens about the reticulated python, Snakeaholic<\/a> aka Kevin Pavlidis helped snag a reticulated python that measured 18′ 4″ long.<\/p>\n

\"El <\/p>\n

El Hippie waterfall in Naguabo, Puerto Rico. (Getty Images)<\/p>\n

This gigantic snake was held up by eight people standing shoulder-to-shoulder to show just how big of a snake they’re dealing with. They tracked it down after it was “spotted strangling a pet cat behind a house.”<\/p>\n

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There was no mention of whether the pet cat survived the ordeal or not. These hunters had a snake to catch. But as you can clearly see, that thing can easily take down more than a pet cat.<\/p>\n

The reticulated python is an invasive species in Puerto Rico, much like the Burmese pythons<\/a> are, in Snakeaholic’s home state of Florida<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Python <\/p>\n

Bloor said she just ‘sort of side-shuffled out.’ (Photo by Joe Raedle\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

EVA SHOCKEY SAYS SHE RECEIVED ‘THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS’ OF DEATH THREATS FROM ANTI-HUNTING ACTIVISTS<\/a><\/p>\n

“It took all my tracking skills and 20 minutes of searching to find this snake down in the jungle,” Snakeaholic wrote<\/a> about tracking down the snake after it was chased down a mountain away from the cat it was strangling.<\/p>\n

“Removing this invasive apex predator is one more step towards restoring the delicate balance of the ecosystem out here in Puerto Rico and I am proud to be a part of this incredible conservation work!”<\/p>\n

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Running around snatching pythons out of the jungle isn’t my idea of fun, but someone has to do it. A giant species of snake like this can take over an ecosystem, as Snakeaholic points out.<\/p>\n

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\"Asiatic <\/p>\n

Image of an Asiatic reticulated python (Python reticulatus), a member of the Pythonidae family. (De Agostini via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

“As incredible as these snakes are, they are an unbelievably large threat to the delicate ecosystem of Puerto Rico,” he added in another post<\/a> about this monstrous snake.<\/p>\n

SON OF FLORIDA ALLIGATOR ATTACK VICTIM SAYS TOURISTS AND TIKTOKERS ARE EMBOLDENING THE GATORS<\/a><\/p>\n

“It’s not the snake’s fault, this is yet another human error of introducing a non-native animal and @proyectoreticpr and I are doing our best to fix the problem other people created.”<\/p>\n

Sean Joseph is a writer for OutKick.<\/p>\n