As pythons thrive by the thousands, here’s how snake hunts factor into the battle

Hunters have caught nearly 1,000 pythons in the many years Florida has offered its signature Python Challenge, where competitors from around the world search for these destructive snakes roaming throughout the Everglades.

But the question has lingered over its effectiveness. That number — 708 pythons, to be exact — may be a fraction of the reptile’s thriving empire in Florida’s ‘River of Grass,’ but state officials and researchers say the lionized contest garners crucial awareness about the harm pythons cause to the place they now call home.

This year’s challenge ended on Sunday, and the results should be released soon, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission.

Here are how many Burmese pythons have been removed during the six state python challenges in the past 10 years:

• In 2013, 68 Burmese pythons were removed.
• In 2016, 106 pythons were caught.
• In 2020, 80.
• In 2021, 223.
• In 2022, 231.

The pythons caught from the challenge do not account for the number of pythons caught year-round. According to the FWC, more than 18,000 pythons have been reportedly removed from Florida’s wildlife since 2000.

“The real aim is to raise awareness about invasive species in Florida and their negative impact that they’re having on our native wildlife,” said McKayla Spencer, the nonnative fish and wildlife program coordinator for the FWC. “Every python removed is one less python out there eating our native species.”

While most researchers are hesitant to estimate the actual number of pythons in the area, a January report by United States Geological Survey said “there may be tens of thousands of pythons across known areas of invasion in southern Florida.”

A challenge in the Everglades

The challenge works by wrangling in people from around the world to register, with or without python hunting experience.

All they have to do is complete online training before they prepare to rummage through Florida’s southern swamps.

After the challenge concludes, prize money is given to those who achieve feats such as the longest python caught or the highest number of pythons captured. Recently, two college-aged men who caught a 19-foot Burmese python (the longest to ever be captured in Florida) spent the night prowling the Everglades in search of the scaly creatures.

The competition, encouraged by the state’s governor, has generated more than 1,000 registrants, but its effectiveness is questioned as the dent created by the python hunters is shallow when compared to the sheer volume of pythons proliferating in the Everglades.

Pythons reproduce at high rates, with female snakes laying anywhere between 35 to 60 eggs, Spencer said.

In July, the FWC’s Python Action Team found and removed a record-breaking python nest containing 111 eggs.

Further still, female pythons do not need a male to produce eggs; they are capable of reproducing asexually, Spencer said.

The regional reach of these matriarchal beasts is expanding, too.

A thriving population

The last 20 years have seen Burmese python populations go from existing at the tip of the state to now flourishing in practically all the bottom third of the state, extending from the Keys to as high as north of Lake Okeechobee.

“They’re underfoot for quite a while, and then all of a sudden, they hit a critical mass and then bam, there they are, you start seeing the large ones on the road,” said Ian Bartoszek, a biologist with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida. “That’s an indication that those pythons have been there for a while, and they’re just starting to show that population explosion in that area.”

Bartoszek said he recently received a call from someone in Charlotte County, which sits north of Fort Myers, about a python sighting.

“They’re very much on the move,” he said. “This isn’t just going to be a South Florida thing. This is going to be a Central Florida thing and beyond. And that’s the moral of the story, don’t underestimate the python.”

Bartoszek and other scientists at the Conservancy employ a scout snake removal program where radio-tagged male snakes guide the scientists to the homes of breeding female snakes. But he believes more can and should be done.

“It sure feels like there’s a systemic infection in the Greater Everglades with Burmese python, and you have all of these agencies trying to get after it the best that we can, and it’s a good start, but we really need to put more effort and energy and work smarter, not harder, on this issue,” he said. “I’m still optimistic that we’ll get there for some emerging technology or some genetic tech that will help us with this issue.”

Finding ways to manage invasive species is a beast of itself, and no one-size-fits-all approach exists for any animal, slithery or not.

“It completely depends on the circumstances,” said James Stroud, an assistant professor of ecology at Georgia Tech who received his doctoral degree from Florida International University. “It depends on the environment, it depends on the impact the invasive species is having and it depends on so many other ecological and economic factors.”

Stroud said South Florida is filled with invasive flora and fauna, but those other plant and animal species do not attract as much attention because they are not as damaging as the apex predator that is the Burmese python.

“Developing conservation management strategies for invasive species, it’s really important to consider each one individually,” he said.

The Florida Python Challenge may be insufficient in creating a lasting reduction in snake populations in the Everglades, but like Spencer, Stroud said the contest brings valuable public attention to the problem.

“In this case, just bringing more attention to the idea that there is wide ecological consequences of these predators being present is really important,” he said.