(WFLA) – A 12-foot python and 39 python eggs were removed from the Florida Everglades on Friday, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Contractor John Hammond found the snake laying on the clutch of eggs near a canal in the Everglades Francis S. Taylor Wildlife Management Area.

The removal of the snake and eggs is part of the FWC’s Python Removal Contractor Program, which pays experienced contractors for their efforts to remove the nonnative snakes from the wild.