Hundreds of python hunters are currently exploring the Everglades ecosystem in southern Florida for the state’s annual Python Challenge.
Last year, 934 hunters participated in the 10-day event and removed 294 pythons. Python hunters came from 30 different states, as well as Canada, competing for the chance to catch the most snakes and the largest snakes – and get some serious prize money. Last year’s grand prize winner was Taylor Stansberry, who won $10,000 for catching the most pythons. They collected 60 invasive snakes and set a record for the event.
This year, $25,000 is offered to python hunters in various event categories. More than just removing snakes, this challenge also serves a few key goals. It increases public awareness about invasive snakes in the Everglades ecosystem, and it teaches more people how to identify and remove snakes.
“Each Burmese python removed from our iconic Florida Everglades means one less aggressive snake negatively impacting our native wildlife,” said FWC Executive Director Roger Young. said in a statement.
This year, participants will be able to look for snakes within the boundaries of Everglades National Park; There are a total of eight locations where competitors can look for aggressive snakes. View photos of past Python challenges here:
Donna Kalil is a contracted snake hunter who won the 2024 Florida Python Challenge for capturing and removing 11 invasive reptiles. Photo by Donna Kalil/InstagramFlorida Governor Ron DeSantis helps capture a python while starting the Python Challenge in the Everglades. Photo by Joe Radel/Getty ImagesA big snake in the grass. Burmese pythons, with their excellent natural camouflage, are particularly difficult to spot in the dense bushes of the Everglades. This is partly why a total of 1,112 pythons have been removed during all python challenges so far, although the USGS estimates that thousands of pythons remain in Florida’s wild. Photo by Kevin Enz/FWC
Connected: Watch the capture of the longest python ever recorded by snake hunters in Florida
Most python hunters patrol roads and waterways at night, and use handheld lights to catch snakes. Photo by Kevin Enz/FWCExperienced snake handlers often recommend grabbing the snake’s tail to help tame it (especially larger snakes), while bringing it closer to you to grab the head. Photo by Joe Radel/Getty ImagesBrian Bax (left) learns how to catch a python with the help of Travers of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Photo by Joe Radel/Getty ImagesAn FWC employee demonstrates safe handling of pythons for both snake hunters and snakes. Photo by Joe Radel/Getty ImagesIn one of the previous Python challenges a python hunter carries his knife in a snakeskin sheath, secured to his snakeskin belt. Photo by Joe Radel/Getty ImagesDebra Phillips pins a python while participating in a snake handling demo. Photo by Joe Radel/Getty ImagesDonna Kalil (left) leads the Everglades Avengers, a python-hunting team whose goal is to help preserve the Everglades by managing pythons. Photo by Everglades Avengers/FacebookOne of the Everglades Avengers is caught patrolling the road at night with a fat python. The Avengers ride in a specially fitted rack on top of the truck to view the snakes. Photo by Everglades Avengers/FacebookCharles Dachton’s presentation for the 2021 Python Challenge: A Box of Snakes that won him $10,000 in prize money. They removed 41 invasive pythons from wildlife areas during the competition, earning them approximately $243 per python. He told the Orlando Sentinel at the time that the prize money the FWC had begun offering that year had caught his attention. Photo by FWCRonald Kiger, one of the 2024 challenge winners, who eliminated 20 pythons to earn the $10,000 Ultimate Grand Prize. Photo courtesy FWCAmateur snake hunter Brandon Call won the award for longest python in 2021. Photo by FWCDusty Crum, also known as Python Wildman, won the award for the longest snake caught by a professional snake hunter in the 2021 Challenge. Krum is a dedicated dragon hunter who has appeared in TV shows such as Swamp People and Guardians of the Glades. Photo courtesy FWCDuring the last challenge, a 17-foot python was caught at night. Photo by FWCBooth (centre) with one of the snakes that helped his team win the challenge in 2016. “You hike hundreds of miles a week, and you come across a snake or two,” Booth told OL when we hunted with him in 2017. “Finding them is harder than you think.” Photo by Edward Mercer/FWCWinner of the 2016 Python Challenge. The grand prize went to the Cyprus Boys team led by Bill Booth (right), with a 15-foot python that weighed approximately 125 pounds. He took out a total of 33 pythons. Daniel Moniz (center) won $1,000 for his 13-foot 8.7-inch python. Moniz also removed 13 pythons.
Photo by Avery Bristol/FWC
Rick Mayo watches Robert Edman of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission demonstrate python capture during the Florida Python Challenge 2020 Python Bowl. Every year experts demonstrate the most effective humane method of capturing large Burmese pythons. Photo by Joe Radel/Getty ImagesThe Python Challenge crew, including FWC staff, presented python skins at the annual awards ceremony. Photo by FWC
Read further: Scientists photograph giant python swallowing a full-sized whitetail in first discovery of its kind
