What to know as annual Florida Python Challenge wraps up

Hunters are roaming giant swaths of public lands in search of the longest predator in Florida — the Burmese python.

The Florida Python Challenge started last week, and hunters must wrap up their activities by 5 p.m. Sunday.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, or FWC, says hunters removed 231 pythons during the 2022 hunt, with nearly 1,000 people from 32 states and even nations like Latvia taking part in the 10-day hunt.

Over the past two decades, the Burmese python has become perhaps the most damaging of all invasive animals found in the southern part of the Sunshine State.

And for more than a decade, hunters have been chasing these giant snakes, among the largest in the world.

Here are some things to know about the hunt:

Yes, a liability waiver is required

You can’t just go out in the woods and be a part of the competition.

FWC requires all hunters to sign a waiver that limits liability should something go wrong during the hunt or should someone become injured or lost.

All kinds of nightmarish scenarios are imaginable when considering the hunters are attacking snakes that grow up to 19 feet in length.

Once captured and killed humanely, all pythons must be chilled or frozen and turned into a check station within 24 hours, according to FWC rules.

Also, there are snakes on the landscape that are used for research, and FWC says those pythons should be photographed and returned to the wild.

“If you capture a scout snake, take a picture of the external orange tag (near the head or tail) with the identification number and release the animal alive at the site of capture,” an FWC website reads. “Submit the photograph of the tag number with capture location (GPS) within 24 hours of

capture to receive credit for the capture.”

Thousands of dollars available to prize winners

The Florida Python Challenge not only promises an adventure, but the competition also comes with cash prizes.

There are three categories: professional, novice, and veteran.

A prize of $2,500 goes to the hunter who captures the most pythons in each category, with the runner-up receiving $1,500.

The longest python captured in each category is worth $1,000.

How to humanely kill a python

Don’t go all Wile E. Coyote in the woods, either.

“Use of traps, bait, explosives, chemicals, smoke and motorized tools to capture pythons is prohibited,” the FWC Python Challenge website says.

Although Burmese pythons are damaging invasive predators that don’t belong in the Everglades, they still should be treated humanely.

“The application of the tool should immediately result in the python losing consciousness. Immediately and substantially destroy the python’s brain by manually ‘pithing’ which prevents the python from regaining consciousness,” FWC says.

Virtual hunting lessons

By this point, all hunters have either been trained on the ground or been through an online training course.

Hunters must have also passed a quiz with a score of 85% or higher and learn the differences between Burmese pythons and native snakes that may be mistaken for them.

Although the state holds an annual hunt, it is legal to hunt pythons all year on public lands and on more than two dozen properties managed by the FWC and agencies like the South Florida Water Management District.

Connect with this reporter: Chad Gillis on Facebook.