Snake hunters capture 15-foot python in Florida Everglades

A team of python hunters from Florida captured a massive snake and a payout on Saturday in the Florida Everglades.

Hunters Leonardo Sanchez and Nicholas Banos wrangled the 15-foot Burmese python as part of the state's "Everglades' Python Challenge" -- a conservation program in South Florida that aims to protect the Everglades ecosystem from reptiles who have been destroying it, notably, snakes.

They say it's the largest snake they've seen the entire season, Fox News reported.

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The two wranglers came across the animal slithering down a steep dike while driving.

"I didn't have time to look for the head," Sanchez told Fox News. "It was buried by brush so I grabbed it by the tail."

While Sanchez was still gripping the tail, he says the front end of the snake bolted, zig-zagging through the trees.

"People think that snakes like that move slowly and sluggish," he said. "But they don't. They run."

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Sanchez says the 144-pound predator built with "pure muscle," weighing just six pounds less than himself, was the pair's largest catch. Their last python record clocked in at 14.5 feet.

Now Sanchez says the two are setting their sights on capturing the world's largest python, with the current record measuring 25 feet long, according to the Guinness World Records.

"I don't want to tie the record," Sanchez added. "I want to beat it."