A Florida man is recalling an incident that has gone viral on social media.
Scott Dame of Collier County discovered a 12-foot python wrapped around his goat, the snake swallowing the goat's head. He shot it with his .45 caliber pistol 8 times.
"The first time I shot it, I shot it in the head, and I thought that did it, but he just recovered and took off," said Dame.
He said he had to step on the snake's tail before finishing it off. Dame said another one of his goats had been missing for several weeks and he suspected the python got that one too.
"A snake that big has no business being here," said Dame.
He would know since he operates a pest control business that also removes reptiles.
"I've dealt with lot of snakes, rattlesnakes and water moccasins, and everything else, but I've never had to deal with a snake that big," said Dame.
His quick thinking could not be more timely since he believes floodwaters around his home from recent storms would have made the python impossible to find.
"I'm pretty confident I got the animal that was eating my goats," said Dame.
He says he's taken some heat on social media for shooting the python, but he makes no apologies about it.
