Hissmas came early for these python hunters. This time, Panhandle python hunters made hissstory after corralling a nearly 200-pound serpent -- the second largest ever bagged in the state.

The state is offering a free “Python Patrol” course to learn how to identify, catch and humanely kill pythons.

The female Burmese python stretched 17 feet, 2 inches and weighed 198 pounds, the second-heaviest python ever captured in Florida, the Conservancy confirmed with CBS News.