When it comes to bucket list hunts, we all have a few we’d like to complete. Public land elk, high altitude mountain goat, African water buffalo or something more subdued like an elusive bottle of Pappy.
Well, when you head on down to Florida, there’s kids in these parts who have slightly different hopes and dreams. For one soon-to-be college freshman, his dream consisted of jumping on massive snakes in the swamps of South Florida as part of this year’s annual Python Challenge.
Bringing in snake hunters from around the world, the challenge takes place each August in an effort to remove invasive Burmese Pythons from the Florida landscape.
Jack Cronin made his first trip to Everglades National Park on Sunday night hoping to tangle with a few snakes and possibly get a shot at a large python. Having wrangled a few smaller snakes previously, the teen had never experienced the thrill of a massive python.
It wasn’t long before he spotted a large head in the brush and made the decision to jump blindly into the darkness at it.
“We go over and there’s just a snake’s head sitting there, the size of my head. I shined the flashlight back through the woods to see the body, and couldn’t even see the end of it,” he said. “Then I’m like, of course, I wanna jump on it. So I jumped on it, grabbed its head, then the thing went nuts and it turned into a wrestling match.”
Despite the obvious size advantage, Cronin was able to subdue the snake and complete the capture. Final measurements revealed the snake was over 15 feet in length, a true accomplishment for a first-timer.
Unfortunately due to the extended battle, Cronin and his crew were unable to get the snake to the final weigh in for this year’s challenge. Cronin wasn’t discouraged, knowing that there are many more snakes in the sea.
“We’ll definitely be back out there trying to get another big mama,” he said.