How do you catch snake twice your size? Odd ‘how to’ video shared by Florida trapper
Meeting a large invasive snake in the dark is unsettling for most people, but for one Florida trapper, it was apparently the perfect chance to create one doozy of a “how to” video.
Specifically, how to grab a python without being bitten.
“Trapper Mike” Kimmel, also known as Python Cowboy, posted the odd tutorial March 23 on his Martin County Trapping & Wildlife Rescue Facebook page.
It starts with an admission that the video was easy to make — because the snake showed up in a parking lot.
What follows is two minutes of a rookie snake handler dodging and weaving as he holds a python’s tail in one hand, and tries grabbing its head with the other hand.
The snake, which looks 10 to 12 feet long, gets increasingly agitated, turning to snap its jaws at the man multiple times. The attempts get pretty close to succeeding.
Finally, after about a minute, “Trapper Mike” points out the trick is all about good timing.
“If you leave most of her body on the ground ... she’s going to calm down for you,” he says. “And then you can kind of sneak up ... and snatch her head up. Remember, you want to grab as close to the fat part (of the head) as you can.”
The tactic works, with the man grabbing just far enough behind the snake’s head to avoid a bite. However, the snake still tries.
“That was close,” the narrator says. “No blood drawn.”
The video has been viewed more than 38,000 times on Facebook and Instagram, with some commenters noting they got nervous just watching. Others say they wouldn’t even have tried to grab it.
“This is what guns are made for,” one commenter wrote.
The invasive pythons plaguing Florida can reach 26 feet and 200 pounds and are notorious for preying on native animals.
Operations such as Martin County Trapping & Wildlife “specialize in large/dangerous nuisance animal removal and wildlife rescue,” while also working to remove invasive pythons, anacondas, monitor lizards and iguana.
Those who see a python in the wild should “take the same precautions for these constrictor snakes as one would take for alligators: avoid interacting with or getting close to them,” the U.S. Geological Survey says.
“These nonnative pythons definitely shouldn’t be left alone, (but) we still need to give them the respect they deserve. We do that by the way we handle, euthanize and utilize each python,” Martin County Trapping wrote.
This story was originally published March 31, 2022 at 1:41 PM with the headline "How do you catch snake twice your size? Odd ‘how to’ video shared by Florida trapper."