Photos of Burmese python swallowing 35 lbs. deer released by officials

Saturday, March 3, 2018
Burmese python versus deer
Burmese python versus deer

FLORIDA -- A python's eyes were bigger than its stomach when it decided to attack and swallow a white-tailed deer.

Biologists say the 11-foot python weighed 31.5 pounds and the white-tailed deer weighed 35 pounds. It was a shocking sight, even for Florida scientists, where the python is an invasive species.

Officials stumbled upon the 11-foot female snake in Collier-Seminole State Park in Naples with a "large food bulge" back in April 2015, the Conservancy of Southwest Florida said in a blog post Thursday.

The officials released details of the finding, which will be published in the March 2018 issue of the peer-reviewed quarterly Herpetological Review.

It's believed to be the "largest predator to prey ratio" ever documented in the history of the Byrmese python species, the conservancy said.

Officials safely captured and relocated the snake, which painfully regurgitated the dead fawn in the grass. Shortly after, the python was humanely euthanized. Wildlife biologists then performed an autopsy on the snake and collected genetic samples.