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The 16ft Burmese python was caught by Eric Bramblet, a hunter paid to slay snakes by authorities in the US state of Florida.

With no natural predators, the invasive species is an apex predator whose appetite for native wildlife even extends to Florida’s alligators.

So when Eric and his girlfriend Kerry Sill found a Burmese python twice as big as their regular catch, it was sure to be a battle.

Eric said: “Since it knew we were there, we knew it would probably run from us if we were to take any more steps."

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“So we shot it with a little pistol. But it had no effect and the snake took off back into the water.”

Mr Bramblet, 24, didn’t realise how big the snake was — but when he went into the water after it, he found out.

He said: “I’m in the water feeling around with my hands and feet, trying to find it. Then all of a sudden I see it start to surface.

“I see that it’s moving past me, going behind me, but I also see the rest of the body is standing still in front of me.

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“So I started to get this idea that it’s a little bit big – if part of it’s moving and the other part is stationary.”

He continued: “I reached out into the water with my left hand and tried to grab on to it and it got away.

“I thought ‘well okay, so maybe I need both hands’. So I used both hands to go down and grab it and it still got away.

“I couldn’t get both hands round it – that’s how I knew how big it was. So what I did was go down and try to grab it with both arms.”

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In the struggle that followed, the massive serpent bit Eric — who’d worked his way down to the snake’s neck but still couldn’t get his hands round it.

The python had also wrapped its body round some nearby Cypress trees, but after 25 minutes the bullet took effect and the snake loosened up.

Before long, Eric and Kerry had wrestled the 143lb monster out of the water and on to the levee where it measured at 16ft 3ins.

Stunning pictures taken for outdoorfla.com by Eric’s father, Bob, shows how the snake – held aloft by a forklift – dwarves Eric and Kerry.

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Mr Bramblet said: “Most of the snakes that we get are anywhere from eight to ten feet — that seems to be about average.

“Every now and then you’ll get a 12 to 14 footer, but 16ft is definitely a record for me – it’s the biggest one I’ve got.

“Compare that to me, that’s almost three times my size – I’m 6ft tall and that’s almost three times as big.”

Eric and his fellow hunters are paid by the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) to eliminate the pythons.

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The SFWMD says the snakes pose “direct threats to humans and native wildlife” and rob native predators of their food sources.

The programme pays hunters minimum wage, but they get an additional $50 (£37) for each snake caught that measures up to 4ft long.

If it measures over 4ft, another $25 (£19) is paid for every additional foot, meaning Eric’s kill was worth a tidy $350 (£264).

It’s believed that by the time a python reaches 13ft, it will have eaten no fewer than 167 animals, including four gators.

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Mr Bramblet, who is a deputy sheriff in his main job, gave his catch to another hunter who told him its stomach was filled with fur.

“I handed it over to another hunter,” said Eric. “He skinned it and he’s making things from the skin and using the rest of the body for science.”

Burmese pythons are believed to have been unleashed on Florida in 1992 when Hurricane Andrew battered a private breeding facility.

Owners who released their pet snakes after becoming overwhelmed by their rapidly increasing size aggravated the problem.