A.G. Gancarski
It turns out “Alligator Alcatraz” isn’t the only thing of note going on in South Florida swampland.
The next few days are the most dangerous for snakes in the Everglades … and potentially the most lucrative for those intrepid souls who hunt them for money and recognition.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s annual Florida Python Challenge , held in conjunction with the South Florida Water Management District, returned on Friday, extending through July 20.
With $25,000 of prizes in play including a $10,000 grand prize, the effort targets invasive Burmese pythons, seeking to protect traditional Floridian wildlife from the slithering scourges introduced to the state as pets in the 1980s only to develop a foothold in South Florida after Hurricane Andrew’s historic destruction in 1992.
Though 23,000 of them have been removed officially since 2000, a female Burmese python can lay up to 100 eggs at a time. Thus, the prolific breeders present an ongoing challenge.
Registration is ongoing and training outposts are available Saturday and Sunday at 4 p.m. at the following locations: Monroe Station (Big Cypress) (25.862881, -81.099572); Everglades Holiday Park (26.060603, -80.443669); Rocky Glades (25.608659, -80.512314).
But if you miss your window between now and July 20, no worries. Hunters can kill pythons with impunity on private lands and commission-managed lands every day of the year.
