Python captured after scaring woman in her shower

A woman came face to face with a scary snake on Friday morning. She saw the python while on her sailboat at Rose Marina off Marco Island.

The couple spent the night near the Everglades. They believe that a six or seven-foot python slithered its way onto their sailboat while they were there.

This isn’t an ideal start to the day. Dan High is the general manager at Rose Marina. “They were pulling into our dock and getting tied up, and the female occupant of the boat found the snake, I believe in the shower of the boat, and she was face to face with the snake,” High said.

It wasn’t just a snake, but it was a Burmese python. They are considered to be an invasive species.

Jim Hart and Sandy Skwirut are from Chicago. “In a shower?! Yeah, no,” Skwirut said. “Those things just don’t happen but I guess they do,” said Hart.

The general manager of the marina says the couple was simply passing through. He also doesn’t think the snake boarded the boat while they were in Southwest Florida. “They spent the evening last night in Indian Key, which is about 15 miles south of us in the Everglades. And they believe that that’s when the snake came aboard their boat,” said High.

Wildlife experts say that in some parts of The Everglades, Burmese pythons nearly wiped out populations of raccoons, rabbits, bobcats, and foxes. The family says what was scary for them was having their dog aboard the boat.

Bobby Monroe is a wildlife expert. “They’re pretty much destroyed all the mammals,” said Monroe. “Now they’re going to all the birds. So, all the autopsies when we’re doing our skinning. We’re finding all the shore birds, the egrets, the blue herons. They’re all found in the bellies of the pythons.”

He was called to Rose Marina to take the python away. He brought it to the Conservancy of Southwest Florida. “What we love about working at the marina. No day is the same. Although this, I definitely hope not to repeat again,” High said.

Their dog is doing okay. The couple was only at Rose Marina for a short time this morning. The marina asked them to remove their boat in case any other critters or invasive species were lurking.

FWC has more information bout how to remove pythons and how to kill them humanely.