A Florida man discovered a 9-foot anaconda slithering along a river in Brevard County on Wednesday, according to UPI. The large, deadly snake was captured and euthanized by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Committee officers as the species is not native to Florida. According to the FWC website such species can cause harm to the ecology and people of Florida. Anacondas joined the list of conditional nonnative species in 2010, making them illegal to own for personal use within the state according to the Orlando Sentinel. The law forced anyone who owned an anaconda prior to 2010 to tag it with an electronic transponder, allowing officials to track it, but FWC officials say there was no tag found on the anaconda in question. Because there was no way to identify the animal or tell how long it had been out in the wild, FWC officials were forced to euthanize it before it escaped into the water.
