18-foot python discovered in Florida Everglades (PHOTO)

It’s beginning to look a lot like Burma in the Florida everglades these days. Some engineers working on levees encountered an 18-foot python. These giant snakes regularly reach more than 20 feet. However, that’s in their native Southeastern Asia stomping grounds. This is Florida. These giant pythons have become a real problem in the everglades, officials say.

The engineers were on a routine inspection when they came upon the python. A python control agent from the South Florida Water Management District bagged the python. the reptile was catching some sun at the L-28 levee, a few miles from the Tamiami Trail.

Officially weighing in at 18.2 feet, it fell just short of the state python record of 18.8 feet. The 18.8-footer was captured by snake collector Jason Leon and verified by the Florida Fish and Wild Conservation Commission. That female snake weighed 128 pounds.

The python population in the everglades has soared in recent years. The area now has as many as 150,000, according to officials. The cold-blooded reptiles have been eating everything in sight in the Everglades and are being found on top of levees. They lie there for long periods of time warming up in the sun.