Winner of Florida python hunting contest nabs 96 snakes: ‘I was on a mission’
Summary
The winner of the Florida Python Challenge caught and removed 96 invasive Burmese pythons from the Everglades in a 10-day contest. The event aims to reduce the number of these snakes, which harm native wildlife, by encouraging people to hunt them during the hatching season.Key Facts
- The Florida Python Challenge is a 10-day event to catch and humanely kill invasive Burmese pythons in eight locations.
- Tom Rahill won this year’s contest by removing 96 pythons from the Everglades.
- The contest had 907 participants from 30 U.S. states, Canada, and Vietnam.
- A total of 280 snakes were removed during the 10-day event, with 1,400 removed earlier this year.
- Burmese pythons are originally from Southeast Asia and have harmed the Everglades ecosystem since the 1990s.
- Female pythons can lay up to 100 eggs a year, making the population hard to control.
- More than 19,000 pythons have been removed from the Everglades since 2017 with help from this event and other hunters.
- The contest also awards prizes for catches, including $10,000 for the winner and $1,000 for the longest snake.
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