19 Weird and Wild Snake Photos from the Florida Python Challenge
Every summer hundreds of snake hunters descend on the Everglades to track down and remove as many invasive Burmese pythons as they can. Here's a peek behind the scenes
Donna Kalil is a contracted snake hunter who won the 2024 Florida Python Challenge for catching and removing 11 of the invasive reptiles. Photo by Donna Kalil / Instagram
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In just over a week, hundreds of python hunters will descend on the Everglades ecosystem in Southern Florida for the state’s annual Python Challenge.
Last year 857 participants helped remove 195 invasive Burmese pythons from the Everglades region. The snakes can be difficult to locate and track, and while the volume of snakes removed by Challenge participants over the years isn’t exactly staggering (just 1,112 all told, compared to roughly 23,000 removed since 2000), the challenge accomplishes a few key goals. It raises public awareness around invasive snakes in the Everglades ecosystem, and it teaches more people how to identify and remove the snakes.
“Every Burmese python removed from our iconic Florida Everglades means one less invasive snake negatively impacting our native wildlife,” FWC executive director Roger Young said in a statement.
This year, participants will be able to look for snakes inside the boundaries of Everglades National Park; there are a total of eight locations where competitors can look for the invasive snakes. Registration is open, and the challenge begins at 12:01 a.m. on July 11 and ends on July 20. In the meantime, check out photos from past Python Challenges here:
A big snake in the grass. Burmese pythons, which have excellent natural camouflage, are particularly tough to spot in the thick underbrush of the Everglades. That’s partly why just 1,112 total pythons have been removed during all Python Challenges to date, even though USGS estimates tens of thousands of pythons remain in the Florida wild. Photo by Kevin Enge / FWCMost python hunters patrol roads and waterways at night, using handheld lights to spot snakes. Photo by Kevin Enge / FWCExperienced snake handlers often recommend hhandling snakes tail-first to help subdue snakes (particularly larger ones) while drawing it closer to you to pin the head. Photo by Joe Raedle / Getty ImagesBryan Backs (left) with the help of Travers, from the the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, learns to catch a python. Photo by Joe Raedle / Getty ImagesAn FWC employee demonstrates safe handling of pythons, for both snake hunters and the snakes. Photo by Joe Raedle / Getty ImagesA python hunter at one of the past Python Challenges carries his knife in a snake-skin sheath, which is secured on his snakeskin-belt. Photo by Joe Raedle / Getty ImagesDebra Phillips pins a python as she participates in the snake-catching demo. Photo by Joe Raedle / Getty ImagesDonna Kalil (left) leads the Everglades Avengers, a python-hunting team whose goal is to help conserve the Everglades by managing pythons. Photo by Everglades Avengers / FacebookOne of the Everglades Avengers with a fat python, caught on a nocturnal road patrol. The Avengers ride in a specially-fitted rack on top of a truck to spot snakes. Photo by Everglades Avengers / FacebookCharles Dachton’s submission to the 2021 Python Challenge: a box of snakes that earned him $10,000 in prize money He removed 41 invasive pythons from wildlife areas during the competition, earning him roughly $243 per python. He told the Orlando Sentinel at the time that the prize money FWC began offering that year had caught his attention. Photo by FWCOne of the 2024 challenge winners, Ronald Kiger, who removed 20 pythons to snag the Ultimate Grand Prize of $10,000. Photo courtesy FWCAmateur snake hunter Brandon Call won a prize in 2021 for the longest python. Photo by FWCDusty Crum, also known as Python Wildman, won a prize in the 2021 Challenge for the longest snake caught by a professional snake hunter. Crum is a dedicated python hunter who has appeared on TV shows like Swamp People and Guardians of the Glades. Photo courtesy FWCA 17-foot python caught at night during a past challenge. Photo by FWCBooth (center) with one of the snakes that helped his team win the challenge in 2016. “You cover hundreds of miles over a week, and you come up with one or two snakes,” Booth told OL, when we hunted with him in 2017. “It’s a lot harder to find them than you think it is.” Photo by Edward Mercer / FWCWinners of the 2016 Python Challenge. The Grand Prize went to the Cypress Boys team, led by Bill Booth (right), with a 15-foot python that weighed nearly 125 pounds. They removed 33 pythons total. 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 looks on as Robert Edman of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission gives a python-catching demonstration during the Florida Python Challenge 2020 Python Bowl. Every year experts demonstrate the most effective an humane way to catch big Burmese pythons. Photo by Joe Raedle / Getty ImagesPython challenge crew, including FWC staff, hold a python skin a the annual awards ceremony. Photo by FWC
