Stories
Inside Florida's Hunt to Save the Everglades From Invasive Pythons
- •Florida pays contractors up to $18 an hour plus capture bonuses to hunt invasive Burmese pythons in the Everglades.
- •Retired US Army veteran Aycock has spent 11 years tracking the snakes, though finding them is never guaranteed after long nights.
- •Burmese pythons have devastated native wildlife, causing massive population drops in raccoons, opossums, and bobcats since establishing in the region.
- •The state utilizes both year-round contractors and the annual Florida Python Challenge to control the population and protect the ecosystem.
- •Captured pythons must be humanely euthanized within 24 hours, presenting an emotionally difficult task for hunters who respect the animals.
Key Questions Answered
Florida contractors earn up to $18 an hour when searching for pythons on foot in wetlands, and $13 an hour while driving along back roads. Additionally, they receive $50 for catching a python up to 4 feet long, plus $25 for every additional foot.
Burmese pythons are invasive species that prey on a wide range of native animals, causing substantial population declines among local mammals like raccoons, opossums, and bobcats. Their removal is critical to protecting the ecosystem and native wildlife in the Everglades.
The Florida Python Challenge is an annual 10-day competition that encourages public participation in removing invasive Burmese pythons while raising awareness of the threat they pose to native wildlife. Participants compete for cash prizes, including a $10,000 grand prize for humanely killing the highest number of pythons.