Two humongous pythons were killed in separate incidents in the United States this week, both in areas where the invasive reptile isn't a native species and may have been released by owners after growing too large to be handled as pets.
At Everglades National Park, a female Burmese python was captured along a popular wildlife watching trail by a python researcher, according to CBS News. The snake measured in at 18 feet and 3 inches, just shy of Florida's largest-ever at 18 feet, 7 inches, which was caught in Miami-Dade in 2013.
Park officials said the python, captured on July 9, was humanely euthanized and had to be removed from the wild because the snakes are wiping out small mammals that previously thrived in the park.
In the rural town of Jonesburg, Missouri, meanwhile, a 15-foot, 160-pound Burmese python that residents suspected had been plucking away small animals was shot and killed early Tuesday morning after a dog's barking alerted a sleeping woman. She awoke and called her father-in-law, who used a shotgun to killed the snake, The Kansas City Star Reports.
Pythons of the size caught in Florida and Missouri are capable of devouring animals as large as deer and alligators. In Florida, the possession or sale of pythons as pets is against the law, while federal law bans importation or sale of the species across state lines.