Python hunters snag Puerto Rico’s largest reticulated python on record after it was spotted strangling pet cat

A team working with Proyectos Retic captured an 18-foot-4-inch reticulated python in Puerto Rico, described as the longest live-captured there. They tracked it after it was seen strangling a pet cat, and say removing the invasive snake contributes to protecting the island’s ecosystem.

The hunter Kevin Pavlidis said it took about 20 minutes of searching in the jungle to find the python after it had been chased away from the cat. Eight people stood alongside the snake to show its size; the article does not say whether the cat survived. Reticulated pythons are non-native to Puerto Rico, where conservationists are concerned they could threaten local wildlife.