A Burmese python was discovered eating a white-tailed deer at a state park in Southwest Florida.
The Conservancy of Southwest Florida has documented what is believed to be the largest predator-to-prey ratio by a Burmese python.
The 11-foot, 31.5-pound female python was found eating a 35-pound white-tailed deer, which was more than 111 percent of the python’s own mass. It didn’t survive the meal.
A team of land managers and biologists discovered the python at Collier-Seminole State Park, where the animal exhibited a food bulge.
The discovery suggests pythons may adversely affect the environment, particularly in young deer populations,which are a food source for the federally protected Florida panther.
The Conservancy’s findings will be published in the March issue of the Herpetological Review, a publication dedicated to the studies of amphibians and reptiles.