The George Lindemann Journal by George Lindemann

Bobby Hill, a python control agent for the South Florida Water Management District, bagged the giant female around noon Tuesday on the L-28 levee about five miles north of Tamiami Trail.

District spokesman Randy Smith said the carcass would be shipped to the University of Florida where biologists working to stop the spread of the invasive species will examine the remains and verify its length and weight.

“It looks to be about 18 feet,’’ said Smith. “It could very well be a state record.’’

The water district’s levees have produced some of the largest snakes captured in South Florida. The cold-blooded reptiles commonly crawl atop the rock embankments to warm their bodies in the sun, particularly on chilly days.

Last May, a snake collector named Jason Leon captured what currently ranks as the largest Burmese python found in the wilds of Florida. He spotted it at night along a canal in southeast Miami-Dade and had to slice off its head to finally subdue the powerful creature. The Florida Fish and Wild Conservation Commission verified its total length at 18 feet, 8 inches. The snake, a female, weighed in at 128 pounds.

The previous record, in 2012, was a 17-foot, 7-inch female captured by scientists in Everglades National Park. That snake, pregnant with 87 eggs, weighed just over 164 pounds.