Overview

• A construction crew spotted the snake just after 2 a.m. and flagged down a Miami-Dade deputy at U.S. 1 and Southwest 98th Street in Pinecrest.
• Pinecrest Sgt. Carlos Atola and a Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office deputy captured the python, with a photo posted outside the Tire Squad store on S. Dixie Highway.
• The police department described the python as a serious threat to native wildlife and praised the swift response that took it off local roads.
• State data show more than 23,000 wild Burmese pythons have been removed in Florida and reported to the FWC since 2000.
• Wildlife trapper Todd Hardwick reports more pythons moving east from the Everglades over the past two years, which he attributes to dwindling prey.