GRAPHIC: Scientists find 5

(CNN) - A Burmese python’s last big meal turned out to be quite a doozy: scientists found a 5-foot alligator inside when they opened the snake up.

Scientists at a Florida lab could feel something big inside a dead, 18-foot Burmese python, so they cut it open, performing what’s called a necropsy. Inside, they found a 5-foot, dead but still fairly intact alligator.

Rosie Moore, one of the scientists investigating the snake’s diet, shared the python video to her Instagram page.

“I actually thought it was pretty gross, too, and I’m used to necropsies and things,” she said. “We were taking breaks, running outside, trying to get some fresh air. I’ve never smelled anything like that.”

Florida encourages people to kill Burmese pythons because they eat many other species and reproduce rapidly. It’s commonly referred to as a “python invasion,” Moore said.

The python Moore was studying was euthanized by the people who found it and turned over for scientific study, Moore said on Instagram.

She learned what a “turducken” was when someone online compared the python and its alligator meal to the dish that features a chicken stuffed into a duck then stuffed into a turkey.

“Shoulda just cooked the whole thing! Woulda been some kinda creepy Cajun version of a turducken,” the comment read.

On top of her scientific work, Moore models part time because she likes the idea of changing the image of female scientists.

“Women in science are always portrayed as dorky, nerdy, shy,” she said.

The Burmese python is one of the largest snakes in the world. The largest one ever captured in Florida was over 18-feet-long, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Copyright 2023 CNN Newsource. All rights reserved. Gray News contributed to this report.