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Video: Tourists in Florida Everglades watch as tour guide wrestles with ten-foot long python

 

Rob Williams
Friday 12 April 2013 12:24 BST
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A group of tourists on a boat ride through the Florida Everglades were left shocked after their tour guide leapt into the water to wrestle a ten-foot long python.

The incident, which was captured on video by holiday makers, saw Tommy Owen tackle the Burmese python - one of Florida's most dangerous species.

Mr Owen, 26, is shown wrestling with the snake for several minutes before his partner, Warren Wortman, cuts its head off.

The tour guide told NBC2 that he hadn't anticipated the length of the snake when he saw the python swimming through the swamp: "I didn't even realize it was 10 feet - definitely thought it was over 6 feet - definitely bigger than me. I didn't realize it was three times the size of my arm."

After sizing up the creature Mr Owen told NBC2 he let his instincts take over: "They don't belong here and that was literally running through my head," he said. "I just launched on it essentially, ambushed it like any other predator out here and just got it - had the best grip on it and never let go the entire tussle."

The species aren't native to the area and are thought to be a threat to local wildlife.

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