Wade Gardner, friends with nearly 12-foot python.

A Florida resident, with the help of friends, used a snare and ax to subdue a massive Burmese python that they had encountered Tuesday on the way home from dinner.

Wade Gardner, of Rotonda West in Charlotte County, told WINK News that after spotting the nearly 12-foot python stretched across the road, he drove home to gather equipment for catching the snake.

It’s worth noting that Burmese pythons, a highly invasive species in Florida, are spreading beyond the Everglades region at an alarming rate, threatening native wildlife.

Members of the public are allowed to “capture and humanely kill” pythons without permits, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

Gardner told WINK News that the python he killed measured 11-plus feet and boasted a girth of 15 inches. That’s above average, but the longest Burmese python captured in Florida measured 18 feet.

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Gardner, now known locally as “the snake guy,” wasn’t sure what to do with the python so he telephoned the FWC.

The agency’s response: "They said there's just too many of them now, and they can't come and get all of them. So bury it, put it in the trash.”

Burmese pythons are native to India, lower China, the Malay Peninsula and some East Indies islands.

They don’t belong in South Florida, but controlling their numbers is nearly impossible.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Florida man captures giant python, told to ‘put it in trash’

Reporting by Pete Thomas, For The Win / For The Win

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