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Nearly 800 Eager Hunters Descend Upon Florida for State’s Unconventional ‘Python Challenge’

Jan. 12, 2013 9:05pm Erica Ritz

800 Hunters Join Floridas Python Challenge in Everglades to Reduce Burmese Python Threat

Dan Keenan makes his way through the thick under brush in the Big Cypess National Perserve, Saturday, Jan. 12, 2013 as he hunts pythons. (Photo: AP)

(TheBlaze/AP) — An armed mob set out into the Florida Everglades on Saturday to flush out a scaly invader.

It sounds like the second act of a sci-fi horror flick but, really, it’s pretty much Florida’s plan for dealing with an infestation of Burmese pythons that are eating their way through a fragile ecosystem.

Nearly 800 people signed up for the month-long “Python Challenge” that started Saturday afternoon. The vast majority – 749 – are members of the general public who lack the permits usually required to harvest pythons on public lands.

“We feel like anybody can get out in the Everglades and figure out how to try and find these things,” said Nick Wiley, executive director of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. “It’s very safe, getting out in the Everglades. People do it all the time.”

Twenty-eight python permit holders also joined the hunt at various locations in the Everglades. The state is offering $1,000 to whoever brings in the longest python, and $1,500 to whoever bags the most pythons by the time the competition ends at midnight Feb. 10.

A Burmese python is displayed at the kick-off ceremonies in Davie, Fla. , Saturday, Jan. 12, 2013 for the 2013 “Python Challenge” organized by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. (Photo: AP)

Dozens of would-be python hunters showed up for some last-minute training in snake handling Saturday morning at the University of Florida Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center in Davie.

The training came down to common sense: Drink water, wear sunscreen, don’t get bitten by anything and don’t shoot anyone.

Many of the onlookers dressed in camouflage, though they probably didn’t have to worry about spooking the snakes. They would have a much harder time spotting the splotchy, tan pythons in the long green grasses and woody brush of the Everglades.

“It’s advantage-snake,” mechanical engineer Dan Keenan concluded after slashing his way through a quarter-mile of scratchy sawgrass, dried leaves and woody overgrowth near a campsite in the Big Cypress National Preserve, which is about 50 miles southeast of Naples and is supervised by the National Park Service.

Keenan, of Merritt Island, and friend Steffani Burd of Melbourne, a statistician in computer security, holstered large knives and pistols on their hips, so they’d be ready for any python that crossed their path. The snakes can grow to more than 20 feet in length.

Christopher Padgett, left, and Matthew Manus, from Sebring, Fla. leave their campsite in the Big Cypress National Preserve for their five-day python hunt. The recommended method for killing pythons is a gunshot to the brain, or decapitation to reduce the threat. (Photo: AP)

The most useful tool they had, though, was the key fob to their car. Burd wanted to know that they hadn’t wandered too far into the wilderness, so Keenan clicked the fob until a reassuring beep from their car chirped softly through the brush.

The recommended method for killing pythons is the same for killing zombies, the Associated Press writes: a gunshot to the brain, or decapitation to reduce the threat. (The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals doesn’t approve of the latter method, though.)

Pythons are kind of the zombies of the Everglades, though their infestation is less deadly to humans. The snakes have no natural predators, they can eat anything in their way, they can reproduce in large numbers and they don’t belong here.

Florida currently prohibits possession or sale of the pythons for use as pets, and federal law bans the importation and interstate sale of the species.

Wildlife experts say pythons are just the tip of the invasive species iceberg. Florida is home to more exotic species of amphibians and reptiles than anywhere else in the world, said John Hayes, dean of research for the University of Florida’s Institute for Food and Agricultural Sciences.

Roughly 2,050 pythons have been harvested in Florida since 2000, according to the conservation commission. It’s unknown exactly how many are slithering through the wetlands.

Officials hope the competition will help rid the Everglades of the invaders while raising awareness about the risks that exotic species pose to Florida’s native wildlife.

Keenan and Burd emerged from the Everglades empty-handed Saturday, but they planned to return Sunday, hoping for cooler temperatures that would drive heat-seeking snakes into sunny patches along roads and levees.

Mike Singleton’s luck wasn’t any better, but his spirits are high, according to Florida’s Sun-Sentinel.

“A year from now,” he said, “we’ll all be sitting around saying, ‘Remember when we went out walking around the Everglades looking for them damn snakes?’”

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Comments (58)

Grady
Posted on January 13, 2013 at 8:54pm
Do you not think that it is ironic that the only animals that the government wants to protect are predators…Polar Bears, Snakes, Gators, Eagles, Crocs, Wolves, insects (DDT)… They have got to look out for their own I guess.

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toto
Posted on January 13, 2013 at 5:44pm
Absolutely need to be killed, but what a shame not to harvest everything that can be used, the skins and the meat. That is the best thing about real hunters, most attempt to use what they can in the true spirit of hunting.

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dabbob
Posted on January 13, 2013 at 3:15pm
They should have included gators in the hunt.

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potica69
Posted on January 13, 2013 at 12:49pm
An interesting new reality/game show would be to film all contestants searching for pythons to see how many of them fall victim to alligators, poisonous snakes, pythons, etc. It might be called: “The hunters get hunted.”

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Tigress1
Posted on January 13, 2013 at 12:06pm
Can’t the libs build a snake bridge so the snakes will know how to leave? What if a hunter gets his leg bit off or gets killed by an alligator?

It would be great if not a single hunter showed up. They should tell the government (the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission) that since the government wants to ban guns because guns are bad, that they cannot, will not, and do not want to help them. The gov. will have to solve this problem on its own without the help from gun owners.

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- Independent4233
  Posted on January 13, 2013 at 3:00pm
  “The gov. will have to solve this problem on its own without the help from gun owners.”
  
  Absolutely correct.
  
  But, unfortunately, these huge constrictors are slowly causing the general public more problems than the government, as several have been spoted near and in human habitation, incrementally migrating northward.
  
  The radical conservationists who try to disingenuously convince us alligators are hartmless to humans, because of their ongoing, programmed love affair with deadly predators, do the same with these deadly reptiles, in spite of the fact that they are killing off vast numbers of small animals and deer, making some areas now difficult to find any at all where before the areas were teeming with game.
  
  I’ve read at least a half dozen accounts where these things….. kept as pets….got out of their cages and were found wrapped around infants and small children with most of them found too late to save the child.
  
  More than one “expert” has estimated the python numbers to be around 100, 000. That’s an out-of-control number, which is going to result in human deaths.
  
  I hope these people are successful, but I doubt that they will catch many, and the Everglades will continue to be decimated by these intruders. Another unintended consequence, causing a further deterioration in this country.
  
  Report this comment
Tigress1
Posted on January 13, 2013 at 11:43am
Where’s PETA? Poor snakes. They can’t help it if they are snakes. Snakes have to eat too! Crazy libs. They need to make up their mind(s). Can’t the Everglades EVOLVE? Yeah, humans introduced the snakes to the Everglades, but humans are part of nature as well. The environment is supposed to adapt and evolve. Is the Everglades supposed to remain the same as it has for millions of years? Where has the earth NEVER changed? When the libs don’t like what is going on in the environment who do they call? HUNTERS with guns! This is just too confusing.

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- CEM
  Posted on January 13, 2013 at 1:04pm
  Been hitting the bottle a bit, have you?
  
  Report this comment
- Tigress1
  Posted on January 13, 2013 at 1:24pm
  No, but I should. Maybe I would understand liberalism a little better. I just think that these hunters should have told the government: “You have a problem with snakes? Well, kill your own darn snakes. All of us evil gun owners can’t help.” The gun owners are just too nice.
  
  Report this comment
paulwbrown
Posted on January 13, 2013 at 11:08am
“An armed mob…..” Is that the AP or the Blaze’s work?

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- malbro
  Posted on January 13, 2013 at 11:16am
  Aggree…They will write anything for attention….It’s a wonder they don’t call our troops an armed mob………..
  
  Report this comment
SpartanPride
Posted on January 13, 2013 at 10:56am
They got it all wrong!!! The worst snake problem is in the US Congress and White House.

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- DZ-015
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 1:10pm
  Unlike the D.C. kind, the Everglades snakes being hunted are non venomous.
  
  Report this comment
kat747
Posted on January 13, 2013 at 10:30am
If you have any extra pythons, ship them to the Middle East.

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Rashomon
Posted on January 13, 2013 at 10:09am
Call Neville Flynn

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Blitz
Posted on January 13, 2013 at 9:36am
But how do they taste? Will I need extra butter?

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wolverine
Posted on January 13, 2013 at 9:34am
Snakes like to eat rats why not capture them and send the largest ones to Washington D(on’t). C(are) and see if they can’t eat the poloticians

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- JustJP
  Posted on January 13, 2013 at 10:14am
  LOL! Good one Wolverine
  
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- kat747
  Posted on January 13, 2013 at 10:26am
  Hopefully you can get those pythons to Washington D.C. in time for the Inauguration……many rats will be there for the “feeding”.
  Good one Wolverine !
  
  Report this comment
freedomofspeech
Posted on January 13, 2013 at 4:06am
oh, that’s what all the talk is about in the hood. The testosterone is thick in South Florida

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yougottabekidding
Posted on January 12, 2013 at 11:33pm
I do not get it.
You need a permit to harvest killers on public land. Put a bounty on them!
They are destroying the eco system and kill what ever they can,
I can not understand game laws that protect the likes of feral hogs, destructive, and dangerous.

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- WildschweinJager
  Posted on January 13, 2013 at 2:57am
  In Texas (not to be confused with the rest of the USA, known as TaxUS), we put a bounty on feral hogs.
  
  Report this comment
- G-WHIZ
  Posted on January 13, 2013 at 9:27am
  Certain snakes are NOT hear by birthright. They were “INTRODUCED” by IDIOT-PARENTS who BOUGHT THEM… “FOR THIE KIDS” and then flushed them or threw-them into the river when too-big or stared to CRUSH THEM!!
  
  Report this comment
MisterSarcastic
Posted on January 12, 2013 at 11:14pm
How about a ‘Rat Roundup’ in DC?

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- right-wing-waco
  Posted on January 12, 2013 at 11:21pm
  I’ve heard that all the rats hang out in 3 to 4 buildings. I agree, lets round them up and fire them.
  
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The-Monk
Posted on January 12, 2013 at 11:09pm
I heard on the radio this morning that they had to be taken in alive to be counted or to collect any money.

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- CatB
  Posted on January 12, 2013 at 11:42pm
  Not what I heard Monk .. heard shoot them in the head .. and bring them in.
  
  According to the rules of the contest, reducing the population means killing the snakes.
  
  “We want to make sure this is done in a humane way,” Segelson said. The competition’s website lists several ways to kill a python “in a humane manner that results in immediate loss of consciousness and destruction of the brain.”
  
  It suggests shooting the snake in the head with a firearm or decapitating it with a machete.”
  
  Report this comment
- subic
  Posted on January 13, 2013 at 1:16am
  The glades are an unforgiving. To actually bag one of these things is easier said than done. This guy more than likely caught this one crawling across the road then went in after it.
  
  We killed a couple when I was down in the Philippines, had some honcho’s make boots out of em.
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlLay2NYlGg
  
  Report this comment
- Witness1974
  Posted on January 13, 2013 at 3:06am
  I watched a report a couple of months ago that said the government agencies down there are contracting with people who use dogs to sniff them out. I was remarkable. They need to be eradicated. Leave two that can mate and the problem will just come back again.
  
  Report this comment
- G-WHIZ
  Posted on January 13, 2013 at 9:31am
  Ya-mean…Decappitate-them witha GUN and SHOOT-them witha MACHETTI’.
  
  Report this comment
Witness1974
Posted on January 12, 2013 at 10:38pm
How barbaric! I think they should capture the snakes, incarcerate them and send teams of psychologists down there to try to get to the bottom of why snakes are so anti-social. Since all snakes are basically good perhaps we can rehabilitate some and make them responsible, contributing members of the ecosystem. After a time of demonstrated good behavior, we can let them out, perhaps even in some of our city parks.

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- CatB
  Posted on January 12, 2013 at 11:03pm
  Send them to Washington D.C. … they will fit right in.
  
  btw .. I live in Florida and am VERY happy they are hunting them .. go get em!
  
  Report this comment
- WildschweinJager
  Posted on January 13, 2013 at 2:59am
  Send the snakes to GITMO, Cuba.
  
  Report this comment
paulhawk
Posted on January 12, 2013 at 9:52pm
The government should just ban the snakes….

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- right-wing-waco
  Posted on January 12, 2013 at 10:15pm
  Put up signs at the entrance to the area saying “Python Free Zone”. That should take care of it.
  
  Report this comment
- DeniseR55
  Posted on January 12, 2013 at 10:25pm
  The glades are the perfect environment for those snakes. I’ll bet that those snakes are also eating all the deer and cougars and bobcats, upsetting the delicate balance with the ecosystem.
  
  Report this comment
- sillyfreshness
  Posted on January 12, 2013 at 10:48pm
  This competition is a great idea. It’s the best way to thin down that population of python snakes. Hurricane Andrew set off this modern situation when all those houses were destroyed. People hunt deer, so why not hunt snakes? I know some people don’t like hunting predators like pythons, alligators, or bears, but these snakes need to be thinned out before they destroy the ecosystem there. They don’t belong in the everglades. I just hope the hunters are very careful so they don’t get ambushed by an alligator or whatever. These hunters are amateurs in a very dangerous jungle type environment, so they need to be very cautious.
  
  Report this comment
- CatB
  Posted on January 12, 2013 at 11:02pm
  If anyone doubts they will at least TRY to eat anything …
  
  http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/10/1006_051006_pythoneatsgator.html
  
  Kill them GOOD GUYS!
  
  Report this comment
- rlimike
  Posted on January 13, 2013 at 9:08am
  @PAULHAWK … they should only ban the ones over 4′ and register all the rest.
  
  Report this comment
banjarmon
Posted on January 12, 2013 at 9:34pm
I wonder how many humans will be killed with all those gun while hunting in the Everglades???
What’s your guess BHO??? 800 or more??? waiting for your answer….

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- DeniseR55
  Posted on January 12, 2013 at 10:20pm
  Maybe YOU should take a trip there o see the vastness of the place before you talk about people shooting themselves there.
  
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- TIMEBOMB
  Posted on January 12, 2013 at 10:31pm
  As your gay Marxist magnificent ruler I would hope that the loss of human life would be great,especially gun owners,their very existence is a threat to my regime.
  
  Report this comment
- WildschweinJager
  Posted on January 13, 2013 at 3:13am
  @BANJARMON
  
  Too much camo and no blaze orange MAY lead to an accidental injury due to accidental shooting, aside from that………..nothing.
  
  Report this comment
13th Imam
Posted on January 12, 2013 at 9:34pm
Free Python Steaks for the hungry. A Win-Win for Florida..

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- CatB
  Posted on January 12, 2013 at 11:00pm
  And a nice pair of boots or handbag ;-) … Go get em guys and gals! I salute you!
  
  Report this comment
MrButcher
Posted on January 12, 2013 at 9:30pm
Sounds like fun.

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- WildschweinJager
  Posted on January 13, 2013 at 3:08am
  Flat bottom boat with fish finder, sharp machete, and 12ga with 00 buckshot and plenty of cold beer in the cooler.
  
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infidelsaplenty
Posted on January 12, 2013 at 9:19pm
I’m baffled as to why PETA prefers a bullet to decapitation. The end result is the same fergoonissake!

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- Advection
  Posted on January 12, 2013 at 10:21pm
  They anthropomorphize animals and so try to think of ways to “ease their passing”.
  
  Too bad they don’t feel the same way about human animals.
  
  Report this comment
Eastinfection
Posted on January 12, 2013 at 9:19pm
And the winner is…

Ron Jeremy

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- progressiveslayer
  Posted on January 12, 2013 at 10:26pm
  Old school John Holmes,we’re juveniles dude.
  
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KidCharlemagne
Posted on January 12, 2013 at 9:11pm
They should let more than 800 hunt…

It’ll take ‘em 5 years to rid the Everglades of the pythons if they’re only gonna’ let 800 at a time hunt them.

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- progressiveslayer
  Posted on January 12, 2013 at 10:28pm
  Just imagine how long It’ll take to make DC free of snakes!
  
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SovereignSoul
Posted on January 12, 2013 at 9:10pm
Dinner time for pythons?

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