July 8 (UPI) -- Conservationists said they captured a 16-foot-long Burmese python that was nesting under a South Florida house with up to 50 eggs.
Officials removed the 165-pound snake Saturday in an Everglades camp in Broward County. Ron Bergeron, a board member of the South Florida Water Management District, assisted in the removal.
"The Burmese python poses a significant threat to the Florida Everglades by disrupting the natural food chain," he told the Sun Sentinel. "With good fortune, we were able to find a large female and remove her and an entire nest of up to 50 baby snakes which would have continued killing off our precious habitat.
Full-grown Burmese pythons are native to Asia and have been imported to Florida as pets. They are considered an invasive species, though, killing native deer, raccoons, birds and alligators.