( CNN ) -- Things that are about 18 feet long ( sure it 's random , just go with it ) . There 's the Ford F-150 pickup truck . There 's the 18-foot skiff , a kind of zippy racing boat . Then there 's the disturbing , frightening , shudder-inducing Burmese python that a Florida water-quality maintenance crew ran across this week . Yes , an 18-foot snake . Well , 17.82 feet to be exact . And 150 pounds . Workers with the South Florida Water Management District often run across the invasive snakes as part of their daily routine inspecting and maintaining canals , pump stations and the like , said agency spokesman Randy Smith . But this one was something even for the grizzled crew of snake runner-acrossers . `` Needless to say , when you get one this big , it raises eyebrows , '' Smith said . `` It 's just such a large animal . They have no predators . They 'll eat anything , even alligators . They are ferocious creatures . '' Python kills security guard . The work crew came across the snake Tuesday in wooded uplands near wetlands a few miles north of Everglades National Park , Smith said . They called in the agency 's python coordinator , who killed the snake with a shot to the head , Smith said . Despite the snake 's size , it 's not the biggest recorded in Florida . That distinction goes to an 18-foot , 8-inch specimen killed by a Florida man who spotted it sticking out of bush in Miami-Dade County in May 2013 , according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission . Before that , the largest python captured in Florida measured 17 feet , 7 inches . 40 pythons seized from Ontario motel room . Pythons are n't poisonous -- they squeeze their prey and humans are n't a frequent target . But they are killing rabbits , raccoons , opossums , bobcats and other native species and wreaking havoc with the south Florida ecosystems where they 've taken hold , according to research published in 2012 . Pythons are such a problem that the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission held a contest last year to see who could capture and kill as many as possible . Hunters turned in 68 of the snakes , the longest measuring more than 14 feet long . Willing to capture a crocodile in Florida ? Apply now .
Florida work crew finds 18-foot Burmese python . (CNN) -- A state worker killed the snake , one of thousands plaguing South Florida . The snakes feed on native species and destroy ecosystems , researchers say .