(crickets chirping)
(car engine revving)
Dive in, this my diamond jawn
Yves Saint Laurent
She say she love my tone
- I have all the lights charged.
- All right.
- You brought the pillowcases?
- Yeah, they're in the back.
(eerie music)
You know everyone's out here
has got different motives.
- Oh, chameleon.
- Lot of people just want to k*ll sh*t.
But to me, I'm just
like playing Pokemon Go.
I'm just trying to find different animals,
different species.
Pick 'em up, say hi, and just let 'em go.
And then little by little,
I just started running
into more and more pythons.
We put a new sign. This area
is in the 24 hour video.
- Whoa. What's the f*ck?
Oh my God.
Get it, get it, get it.
No way.
Where is it?
- I got it.
- You got it?
- Yeah.
- That was crazy. It
was f*cking periscoping.
I knew it. I knew we were
gonna catch him today.
- Ugh.
- Holy sh*t, it's huge.
- Woo.
- I knew it. I knew we were
gonna f*cking catch him.
- Ghost. Quick.
Come on. Pillowcase.
It is like--
- Dude, that was insane.
- He was like waiting.
- Dude. Did you see that?
- Yeah. He was periscoping.
- Did you see him periscoping?
- That's a danger to the Everglades.
That m*therf*cker is eating whatever.
- f*ck.
One of them plays a piccolo in my ear
Another one makes me smell
things that aren't there
And they know where to hide
And they know everything
that's inside of my head
Tiny demons
Inside me
And they won't ever leave
But they won't show their faces to me
(frogs croaking)
(door bangs)
- Are you hungry, lady?
Huh?
Are you hungry?
Come on. Come on over here.
Come on.
You want the banana?
f*ck.
Bit the sh*t outta me.
When I was growing up,
I was considered weird because
of my love for reptiles.
Let me stop bleeding a little bit.
You stay.
I know, I know.
Nobody thought about
raising and breeding snakes.
Snakes have been hated from
the first book in the Bible.
So 30 years ago,
if you would've told me
there's a competition
to catch pythons specifically
in the Everglades,
I would've told you you were nuts.
Yeah, baby, heh, heh!
- Joe Wasilewski, thanks
so much for being with us.
- One down.
- Yeah.
- A hundred thousand more to go.
- A hundred thousand to go.
- I've been hunting snakes
down here for almost 50 years.
But the pythons nobody saw coming.
They're not venomous, but you can see
the power that they have.
- [Radio] Wasilewski, a reptile expert
is one of a handful of men's
sanctioned by the state
to hunt down and rid
the glades of pythons.
- You know, you can sit down
with 10 different scientists
and you're gonna get 10 different answers
of how theyre here and
why they're thriving.
- [Reporter] Burmese pythons
are native to Southeast Asia,
but the pythons in the Everglades
in most cases started off as pets
released by their owners after
they get too big to handle.
- [Reporter] So have a hundred thousand
actually been released?
- No, no, no. Probably
what happened is the
Hurricane Andrew theory.
Back then, all the imported
wildlife came through Miami.
And in August, 1992,
Hurricane Andrew devastated South Florida.
One importer had 900 baby pythons.
The hurricane wiped the importer out.
There was nothing left.
Now there's 900 pythons
right in the middle of the Everglades.
Then they reproduce and
now it's out of control.
Before there were pythons
out there, the Everglades
was one of the most
unique ecosystems we have.
There was all kind of
exotic wildlife all over.
But once they got here,
once they started growing,
the pythons began eating
our native animals.
And those numbers just plummeted.
And, and now over 90% of the mammals
in the Everglades have disappeared.
And so the effect it's had on the wildlife
has become an ecological disaster.
But humans, we're good
at destroying things,
and hopefully we can
destroy these pythons.
The largest one captured to date is 18.9.
I am gonna catch a 20 footer
someday, you remember that.
- The Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission
is ready to do whatever it takes
to remove the Burmese python.
Well, if you're a hunter
and you've got deer season,
turkey season, now we're Python season.
Wildlife officials in
Florida just announced
the Python challenge,
inviting people from all over the world
declaring open season on the predators.
- They're giant. They're 17, 18 feet long.
Are they k*lling people too?
If you wanted to get rid of somebody, man,
take 'em to Python country.
- They're eating our
indigenous frogs, our pigs,
our deer, our alligators.
They're eating everything.
- They're ravenous.
So Florida's hosting a
python hunting challenge
in the Everglades.
How am I gonna chop the head off the snake
if I'm gonna be running
in the other direction?
- [Reporter] Over a thousand
people have signed up
for this year's event.
- [Reporter] And this year's grand prize,
$10,000 for most snakes caught.
Can you imagine on Everglades,
one of the natural wonders of
the world with no wildlife?
This battle is like World w*r III.
- [Reporter] The 10 day
competition calls on both
professionals and novices
to venture out deep
into the Everglades swamps
in the dead of night.
- Yeah. Bend that head down.
- [Reporter] To hunt
from one of the largest
snakes known to man.
- This snake can have
a hundred eggs a year.
And when you calculate that
can destroy the natural food chain,
I welcome everyone to join us
in hunting this invasive snake
and saving our beautiful Everglades.
- I came down from Vermont,
so I'm looking for something
like world record setter.
- I mean, finding a python is a score.
I'm new to the state and
I've caught like 10 pythons.
Bye Guapo. Mommy loves you.
- Last year when I won,
I mean I was in debt.
$1,300 on my credit card bill,
and sh*t, I mean, I got lucky.
- You, you, you, everybody,
anybody can go out and catch a python.
However, there is a caveat to that,
you have to k*ll it.
(dramatic music)
(frogs croaking)
- [Anne] Better put your g*n away.
- [Toby] It'd be all right.
- [Anne] And bring the gin and tonic in.
- Yes ma'am.
- Oh, this is nice.
Very nice.
I packed four boxes worth
of stuff and a suitcase,
'cause I didn't know what
I was coming up against.
- This one doesn't have
your tonic water either.
- Okay.
- I'll fetch another
- Try the suitcase.
I put something in there.
- Okay.
- [Anne] Where is the gin?
- Let see. She packed her whole apartment up.
- [Anne] I'll take a couple of ounces.
- That looks about like
three right there, huh?
- No, more.
- More than that?
- That's not, that's not barely two.
Okay, that's fine.
- Right here?
- Yeah.
- Okay.
(nostalgic music)
- My husband would've loved this, perfect.
k*lling the pythons,
he would've loved this.
I've only been in Florida since October
when my late husband died,
so I don't know anybody here.
I was watching TV and I
saw the Python Challenge.
I'm a nature lover, so I
said, where can I sign up?
Somebody passed it to Toby.
And Toby called me on the phone and said,
"Hello, I would be
honored to be your guide."
So I said, "Yeah, how about that?
"Are you Larry the cable guy?" (laughs)
- She's a p*stol.
For her age boy, she's,
she's something else.
I'm an eighth generation Florida cr*cker.
I've been envenomated twice.
Gotten shot, got stabbed once.
I mean, I've just always been outside.
So Miss Anne said, I just
wanna go on one more adventure.
And I promised her that she will.
- Robert.
- [Toby] I'm Toby Benoit.
- Toby.
- Woods N Water Magazine.
- Nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you, Robert.
Ah, it looks like that might
be my Texicans coming in.
- This the legendary Toby?
- Good to meet you, David.
- Sheila.
- Nice to finally to
meet you. How are you?
- I'm good, I'm good Sheila.
- Finally, the day has come.
Any snakes that we catch,
we're gonna hold them down
so she can put the
knife through their head
and scramble the brain.
That's all she wants
to do is k*ll a python.
- I want to save the native species,
so Toby and his friends are gonna fan out,
catch the pythons and
bring them to the truck.
And I am gonna pith them,
put an ice pick down in their brain,
in their head and scramble their brains
so they can't come back alive. Yeah.
- Should you
pack before the party?
- Yes. Can we please?
Oh, did we bring the drill?
- Probably somewhere.
Are you taking your kit? Your field kit?
- Yeah.
- Oh, that's your, your sleeping bag.
- My sleeping bag.
I go to Florida. They got an invasive
Burmese python problem.
This will be my third year.
- Can you catch them, get rid of them?
- Yeah, I catch 'em.
I mean they just pulled a 19
footer out not too long ago.
When I see a snake,
I feel like it's like seeing
like a mystical being.
So the Python Challenge is my vacation.
I love Florida.
I f*cking love Florida.
But when it comes to like
invasive species eradication,
there's people that come
out from both sides.
Like last year I caught a baby python,
but my friends didn't wanna k*ll it
'cause it was a little baby
and I just had to let it go.
But it's hard 'cause if
you just leave a couple,
you'll be back to those same numbers fast.
But this time if we see a snake,
I'll be ready for it.
This way all the locals will know
that we're real hunters.
- [In Unison] Hey.
- Cheers.
Okay. What would you
like to say about this?
- Well, here's to me to
catch some snakes in Florida.
Thank you Everglades Motel. Here we come.
(people speaking over each other)
- yeah. You're pithing the brains.
You're pithing the brains.
(crowd laughing)
- What life questions
are you hoping to answer
by going out there?
- What are you running away from?
- What am I running from?
Nothing. I'm running to stuff.
- Will you wear a mask on the plane?
- Yeah. I will.
- Thank you.
Don't let the snakes go this time.
- You know I'm 40 now,
so everyone talks about their regrets.
I'd rather regret what I did
do than what I didn't do.
(faint upbeat music)
- The Python challenge has turned into
like the Burning Man of snake hunting.
Most of these people, they're
not in it for the environment,
they're not in it for the native wildlife.
They just wanna come out
here to k*ll something.
So these yahoos piss me off.
Yahoos are the guys that
come down from Texas,
New York, California.
They come from all these other states.
And now we got people
coming in off the highway
and hopping my fence looking for pythons.
About three years ago I started working
for the government
program Hunting Pythons.
It was a good way for me
to help the environment
and get paid while I was doing it.
But I never participated in a challenge
even when I was a contractor.
It brings the wrong kind of
attention to this problem.
But if I was in a challenge, I'd win.
There's no question about that.
I'd make 'em all look like sh*t.
I was hoping to find Python pattern fabric
and I found like almost
perfect Burmese python pattern.
You know, I looked at
'em and I got the idea,
I was like, wow, this
would make a good decoy.
Look how they look going on the ground.
This is gonna piss off a lot of people.
Let's go catch some yahoos.
(gentle music)
- We're gonna have a real good time here.
We going to catch up some snakes
and you are gonna see some things
that you probably hadn't seen before,
but there's nothing out there
to be scared of, really.
I mean, if you ever watch "Scooby Doo"
it always turns out the real
monsters are always people.
- So you have to make an
imaginary X on their head.
Insert a small rod like a screwdriver
into the cranial cavity.
- [Voiceover] Pithing,
it's meant to humanely cause death.
The goal is to destroy the cerebral cortex
with manual force ensuring
substantial destruction of the brain.
(car engine revving)
- [Anne] Alright, 60 second call out.
- Ready Gary?
- Yep.
- Five, four, three, two, one.
(car engine revving)
(frogs croaking)
(cricket chirping)
- You good Sheila?
- Yeah.
- If you think you see
one, you holler out.
- So much different at night
than my two other trips to the Everglades
when it was teeming with wildlife.
- Yeah, it's like a ghost town.
Their presence has just got
everything turned upside down.
- They must die.
- Wow. Look at that.
All those people you guys, it is game on.
- Should we get out and
poke around a little bit?
(crickets chirping)
I met this kid Brandon last year.
He's a f*cking swamp boy.
Oh, it is thick.
You trying to do this in your slides?
- I do anything in my slides.
You see anything?
- Nope.
- Python, python, Python.
(upbeat music)
- If you hear me say snake.
- That's it. That's a call sign, right?
- Alright. Yes sir.
(upbeat music)
- [Jimbo] Oh my God.
We're gonna get somebody,
they're gonna see this thing
and think they got their 20 foot snake.
They're gonna be like,
woo $10,000 in the bag
and then they're gonna
feel a piece of styrofoam.
- What's that?
Is that not a little
something right there?
- Damn, I thought that
was a f*cking python.
(gentle upbeat music)
- [Toby] When I'm python hunting,
we don't necessarily look for a python.
They blend in with the
environment really well.
You'll look for something
out of the ordinary.
A shape, a little piece of a
pattern that doesn't belong.
Tail or a nose sticking outta
the grass. Something subtle.
But most of these people out here,
they have no idea what
they're looking for.
- Snake, snake, snake, snake,
snake, snake, snake, snake, snake,
on your left.
I ain't going in there.
(upbeat music)
- [Sheila] You guys have peroxide?
- [Brandon] Ooh, it's
a Florida water snake.
- [David] Wish it was a python.
- [Richard] That's a cottonmouth.
That snake right there will
k*ll you tonight if you got bit.
- Oh. Oh. A brown water snake.
(camera shutters)
- Thats pretty f*cking stupid.
- Youre blocking the f*cking road!
- I like to take car keys away
Youll walk the f*ck home.
- Okay. I didn't know.
I thought maybe it was law enforcement.
That is why I carry machetes
and have my concealed carry.
- Oh, whoa. Stop, stop,
stop. Stop, stop, stop.
- No, way that's a f*cking python.
- That's it.
- Yeah. Get it. Boom.
Oh no, that's all.
Get outta here.
- That's a cottonmouth.
- Dude. I almost k*lled myself.
- Dude this fool grabbed a water moccasin.
- Yeah I did.
- [Brandon] Oh my god. Oh my God.
Gimme a stick dude.
- [David] Let it go.
It's cool. Let it be.
- [Brandon] No, no. Gimme a snake hook.
- Whoa. Dont throw it-
- Dude, that's a big cottonmouth.
- Brandon.
- Brandon.
- Oh my god let that baby go.
- See I love cottonmouths so much.
- [David] Bro, that's one
of the prettiest cottonmouth
I've ever seen.
- Brandon.
- Thank you.
Have you seen people get snake eyes
when they pick up the snake
and they're like hypnotized
in another reality.
- But you know, one little mistake
and, and it could go sour.
- This is nothing like
what I thought it would be.
You hunt and hunt and
hunt and see nothing.
- Well, like I told you,
python hunting is hours
and hours of abject boredom.
Interrupted by a few minutes
of pretty intense adrenaline.
(dramatic music)
- What's that right there?
Oh, that's a f*cking python.
- sh*t.
- You good?
- Yeah, I'm good.
- Don't come to me.
- Come here.
- There we go.
Hey, grab the bag.
- It was cool. What did I say?
- A f*cking python.
Let's get a bigger one.
- All right. Is everybody just overwhelmed
with the good times already?
- It's 5:00 AM, Toby.
I'm bailing.
- Are you guys seeing
the natives out though?
- [Toby] I haven't seen any
natives that where we were at,
but have you hunted 'em before?
- It's my first year hunting 'em.
I mean, I'm only eight
months into being in Florida.
- Well, welcome.
- [Maddie] Thank you. I mean--
- If you already caught
a snake, that's amazing.
- [Maddie] Thank you.
- Hey, what was your name?
- I'm Maddie.
- I'm Toby Benoit, Woods
and Water Magazine.
- Nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you Maddie.
- [Maddie] If you guys see us out there,
don't be afraid to stop us.
- [Anne] Granny's outta here.
- Yes ma'am. Granny's outta here.
(air whooshing)
(car engine revving)
- We got two babies.
- Beautiful. Were you able
to fill out a data sheet?
- Yep. Got it Right here.
- Beautiful. Thank you very much.
(car engine revving)
- We're three generations
of snake fanatics,
but even then took us
a few years to learn,
you know, really the best way to come down
and actually have success finding them.
- Yeah, you grab its tail
and you just tire it out
until you're able to grab the head,
and I did that with a 10 footer.
- The biggest thing for us is the monotony
of the driving the same
roads all the time.
That's just how you do it.
It's a team effort.
We only worry about what we're doing.
We just take the attitude
of it's our hunt,
we're gonna do it our way and it pays off.
(air whooshing)
- For the 10 days of the Python Challenge,
I used to just shut my lights
off, shut my gate and hide.
Everything that's going through
the government Python removal program,
took the joy outta python hunting.
- [Reporter] If you're looking for a job
and you don't mind
working with large snakes,
well you could be the next python hunter.
Florida's looking for 50 people
for its python elimination program.
You get paid hourly.
- There was thousands of people
that had applied to be
contractors and I was one of 'em.
I was just good at catching pythons.
So I was pretty excited.
I thought it was an honor,
you know, and a privilege.
But things change.
(subtle music)
When I was younger, I left Jersey
and I came down to Florida
and it was all new.
There was an abundance of wildlife.
I loved being away from people.
I felt free, which was good for me
'cause rules have never
really been my thing.
(gentle music)
Most nights I went out
hunting with my daughter
and it was looking like
she was gonna get hired on
and become one of their
star contractors too.
Alright. That was an easy one.
I used to make most,
if not all of my money
taking out Python tours,
taking out python hunts,
selling baby pythons.
But once I started the program
I had to give all that up.
- [Voiceover] Turn right then turn left.
- And then I got a call from another guy
who caught a python.
I went and met him, took
the python and turned it in,
and he turned around and snitched on me.
That was one of the main rules,
not to take pythons from other
people and it got me fired.
This is Jim from DoorDash.
I'm pulling up out front right now.
After that I got banned
from any activities
that had to do with a
Python elimination program,
including the challenge.
(gentle music)
Sometimes it feels like these agencies
care more about their rules
than actually fixing the problem.
(water splashing)
(subtle music)
- When I started doing this
I was looking for like other
things to keep me off drugs.
Now I'm just like hooked on this sh*t.
I guess it's just like the adrenaline
of something that could k*ll me.
I just thought people were gonna be like
enamored with the footage.
Like wow, this is beautiful.
But most people were like ignoring that
and they were just like, I
hope you k*lled that thing.
Like you better have removed it.
Man, f*ck outta here.
You know I come out here just
'cause I really like nature.
I really like animals,
but way too many people out here
think they're like the
Avengers of the Everglades
and you know, the pythons
are just the easiest thing to k*ll.
It's just like a f*cking little noodle
swimming in the water.
If an animal is deemed
cute in society's eyes,
it's gonna get a pass.
Like cats. Cats have literally driven over
60 different species of birds
in the United States to extinction.
But like no one's gonna sh**t a cat,
you know that seems sick in the head.
(air whooshing)
- Y'all do any good last night?
- We didn't see any snakes of any kind?
- Really?
- Yeah. It's just a matter
of right place at right time.
When you're trying to
come up outta the swamp
and cross those roads,
that's when you catch 'em.
- [Richard] We're trying to stay out later
and try to sleep more during the day.
Alright folks, I'm gonna go and get ready
it's nice to meet you.
- Are you Hawaiian and as
well as San Francisco?
- [Richard] No. Why do you ask?
- You have a Hawaiian hairdo.
- Right.
- You look like Moana.
- [Richard] Okay. I've never, never been.
- You should try it. It's beautiful.
- All righty.
I want to look good because
I don't want these locals
thinking I'm just some
sloppy San Franciscan.
Now we're starting to look a
little bit more presentable.
- Oh yeah.
- When's this damn snaking
party starting?
I am here to do invasive
species removal, you know,
but like let's get funky.
I'd rather snake with friends.
So I got Jamie and Monica here with me.
Dear fellow snakers we are
having a little get together
at 7:30 in room 23,
ice cold beer for
everyone, all are welcome.
Hope to see you then.
(knock on door)
Hey, come on in.
Here for a snaking party.
Oh, so y'all are here snaking too.
That's what I'm f*cking talking about.
Cheers. Welcome to the snaking party.
What's your name?
Sheila?
- Yeah.
- This is Sheila everybody.
- What's going on guys?
- Snake party.
- Hey, come on in.
How's it going?
My name's Rich or Ricky.
- Jeff. Delphina.
- Hi. Dephina.
Ricky, welcome. Thank you.
- Yeah, it scrambles their brains
and the heads will still bite you
after you chop their head off.
Yeah, they'll still bite you.
- Why you choose to take vegetarians
snake hunting with you baffles me.
- I don't know how many
snakes there are in Belgium,
but it's a very Florida a*s event.
This whole culture to me is
super interesting, you know?
What do your friends say about Florida?
- It's the butthole of America.
That's what they said.
- Yeah. Yeah.
(crowd chattering indistinctly)
- [Richard] Howdy.
- Hi.
- Come on over for a drink or something.
Or like a, come on over for the party!
- [Sheila] Can I get you some water
or beer or anything at all?
- I drink real spirits.
- You wanna hand down?
- I'm fine.
- You got it? Okay.
- [Sheila] And where are you from darling?
- I am originally from
Charlotte, North Carolina.
For the last 50 years I've been living in
Tucson, Arizona, the wild west.
When my husband died,
my three siblings said,
Anne, you're gonna move to Florida
and you're gonna sell your
house and sell your car
and give up your driving license
'cause you might hit somebody.
So I did.
(subtle music)
- [Richard] What's Toby doing?
He's here?
- He's here. He's standing
outside of our room
writing his column
that he has to hand in
tomorrow for the paper.
- [Richard] He's a journalist?
- [Anne] Yeah, he's a writer.
- [Richard] No. sh*t.
- Python Challenge 2023.
That's for the Hernando Sun
newspaper, my weekly column.
The newly waning moon,
just beginning its ascent
into the blackened sky
peaked above the distance
cypress trees hanging low
like a giant golden orb
casting its pale light
across the river of grass.
And as I'm writing this,
I'm guiding an eclectic gathering,
of first time python hunters,
each hopeful of cashing
in an award winning snake
during Florida Python Challenge.
My team's personal python
panther is Miss Anne Stratton
from Vero Beach.
Her top most bucket list item
is to k*ll an invasive Python.
And at the age of 82
I figured it was about
time to get the job done.
- [Anne] The $10,000 prize,
is that for the biggest
snake or the most snakes?
- I believe it's for the most snakes
and we kinda sucking
hind tit on that one.
- Yeah, we're behind.
Snake!
- No, it's definitely not a burm.
Banded water snake.
If the natives are crawling though,
maybe the non-natives are too.
Wining would just kind of be like icing
on a cake for my readers.
That I'm not just full of manure
that actually know what I'm doing.
I'm pretty competitive.
I'm driven to be successful.
Nobody wants to just sit
around wasting their time.
Try real hard to be good at it.
- [Man] What's going on guys.
You guys doing good.
- Doing pretty good.
- No, we're not.
We're not finding anything.
The nerve of you saying we're doing great.
I mean the Everglades are
just overrun with pythons.
If so, how come we aren't seeing any?
- I don't know what she expected.
I mean I tried to prepare her
but she's getting kind of disillusioned
that we haven't found a python yet.
But it happens. You know,
it's hunting, not catching.
I just need a little bit
more patience from her
and we'll get her something
to put a knife in, poor gal.
(car engine revving)
(faint upbeat music)
- Let me just get a vodka
cranberry to start. Thanks.
Thank you brother.
- Thank you.
- You're welcome.
- [Reporter] The statewide
Python challenge is underway,
but there's a local contest
people may not know about.
Ervin Stolkes owns the Gator
Hole Bar in the Everglades.
He's throwing the first
ever Python festival
and has his own contest
at the Gator Hole Bar.
- It's much more than the state hunt.
We're doing the snake train.
Whoever can k*ll the most
snakes, put 'em in a train.
And if you got the longest snake baby,
you're gonna win $1000.
(gentle upbeat music)
- Hey, how are you?
- Good. How are you?
- Good.
I am here to sign up for
the Python competition.
- Awesome.
- It's gonna be me and my daughter.
We definitely want to enter
the skinning competition
and a general hunt.
- Sure thing.
- I think it's a great idea.
The state sanction challenge.
It's, it's just a waste of time and money.
- I just want 'em gone.
They eat my chickens.
- General hunt. There you go.
- Awesome. Thank you.
- Thank you.
This is actually kind of
giving me a second wind.
It's something that I can be a part of.
It looks like it's gonna be more
for people who care about the Everglades.
So we can thumb our nose at the agencies
and let 'em know that we can do this
better than the government can.
(car engine revving)
And you know it's, it's gonna be good
to get back out with my daughter.
Shannon?
Go park. Go park up by
the truck. We got our...
Tour guys are gonna be
here in a couple minutes.
Just go inside. Get ready.
Honey. Go look. Decide
what shirt you want.
Shannon. You couldn't get
slightly bigger shorts.
Before I joined the program,
we filmed all our adventures
out in Everglades.
I was a Yankee Gladesman
and her name was Glades girl.
Shannon's got the Everglades
running through her blood
and when she was younger
she used to assist me on my tours.
But she's 19 now and she doesn't
really have that much time
for silly stuff like python hunting.
Shannon, we're gonna get
the lights up on the top.
- Where are they?
- The light bars are over there.
We're gonna get them fastened
and I gotta plug them in.
- Okay.
(gentle music)
- Tonight we're going out
because we have a family that's with us
that wants to go out on a python hunt.
So we're taking 'em out,
looking for pythons.
Wait till I call it.
Shannon. Try 'em again.
This is me getting back into it.
Hey guys.
- Come on.
- How are ya?
This is my daughter Shannon.
- Hi.
- Hi.
- She's gonna be assisting
us on a hunt tonight.
- Nice to meet you.
- Pleasure.
- I wanna see a turtle.
- Come on, let's go get a look.
- You know what kind of tortoise that is?
- So what you guys do last night?
- There was nothing going on.
I was gonna go to Roundup but.
- No more bonfires down
at Macks or down in Miami.
- They they, they do 'em just
so it wasn't this weekend.
Everyone had Grad Bash this weekend.
- Gotcha.
In their natural habitat,
they're primarily nocturnal.
They come out at night
moving, looking for food.
If you see a patch of white
that might be a snake
sticking its head up,
periscoping and looking around.
Look for anything that doesn't
look like it belongs there.
Shannon. Don't just
look right at the edge.
Look into the weeds a little bit.
You know, before the state stepped in,
we used to be able to go
out into the Everglades
and catch these,
and catch these things and
remove them from the Everglades
and we had an incentive to do it.
So now the only people that can do it
are government employees or
these f*cking challenge yahoos.
But there's a better way.
I definitely think there's
a better way to handle this.
Before Florida outlawed everything,
before they made everything
like pythons are so dangerous
that only we can fix this.
I have friends that were
catching 4 or 500 babies a year
and they would sell 'em to somebody
who would then ship 'em out
legally through the pet trade.
In the northern states,
they're ill*gal to keep his pets
'cause they can't survive out there.
But the Florida government,
they took that away.
(gentle music)
Now if you touch one,
you have to k*ll it. That's it.
They just pulled the carpet
out from everybody else
who was making money off of it.
And I hate to say it,
it's like detrimental to the cause.
Nope, nothing.
It's nice to have you out again.
When's the last time you came out here?
Just us without a tour,
when's the last time you came out here
just to go python hunting with me?
- [Shannon] Probably over a year ago.
- [Jimbo] You miss it
at all? No (chuckles)
- No.
- Shannon, you wanna slow it
down a little bit, right hun?
Shannon, slow down a little.
- I'm not speeding up.
That's just me not hitting the brake.
- [Jimbo] Then ride the brake a little.
- Oh my god.
- Shannon got a python over here.
Turn on. You got, just
leave everything like it is
and get out.
Holy sh*t. It's a big one, man.
Nice, nice snake.
Shannon, grab the tail.
It's gonna, it's gonna wrap around me.
You got it?
Alright. Go. Go.
- [Shannon] You grab it. You got it.
- [Jimbo] No, drag him back.
Get him back to the truck.
- [Shannon] This is heavy.
- It's a big snake. Hang on.
Just put it down.
Grab the bag.
You are gonna have to put the tail.
Oh man. Here we go.
Here comes problems. Let's see.
f*ck. All right.
Pick the bag up. Lift it up. Lift it up.
Lift it up. Keep lifting, keep lifting.
Almost got it.
Ready?
- Yeah.
- Alright. It's going in.
It's in.
Good snake (laughs)
In the bag.
(car engine revving)
- Hi. How are you doing?
- I'm good. How are you guys?
- You got something to turn in?
- I do. A nice little hatchlings.
- Alright, we're all set.
- Hopefully I'll see you guys again.
- Absolutely. Have a good one.
- So this is what I usually hunt in.
I ended up meeting these guys
and they had the perfect
truck with the lights
and I told them that I am going to use you
for eyes and for your lights.
'cause I drive a f*cking buggy out there.
And that's how this started.
- I've always wanted the python, huh?
So she's using us for the truck
I'm using her for the pythons.
- Yeah. It's a fair exchange (chuckles)
It's a fair exchange.
I moved to Naples eight
months ago with my boyfriend.
He's a cute little tech sales boy.
He doesn't like that people wanna go out
hunting with me.
You have the snake hook?
- We've been ready.
We were born ready.
- Okay. But I just wanna
catch as many snakes as I can.
So honestly I, I don't give a sh*t.
I didn't realize you guys
were gonna sit so silently.
I'm a nuisance wildlife trapper.
People paint you out to
be this animal k*ller,
but this is a problem we freaking created.
It's our job to fix it,
but we really don't wanna
ever be the ones causing pain.
- Oh, slow down.
- That's a gator buddy.
- Gator, baby gator.
All right, well.
- [Madison] Got my boot wet for nothing.
- Well, I saw a reptile.
I think we should stick Madison up here.
- I'll go up.
- You got the best eyes.
In a strictly professional aspect.
- I was a Marine, so it's
definitely not the first time
that I've had to be with guys
that are trying to test the
waters and feel things out.
The way I've handled
it like my entire life
is you train 'em.
Every boy is trainable.
What's that?
What's that?
No. Back up, back up.
Back up. Back up. What is that?
- Not a snake.
- [Madison] You're positive
That's not a snake.
- Get out and look at it.
- Really? Because this is a
hatchling right here buddy.
- Oh, that's not what I was
looking at. Good eye though.
I was looking over here.
- We got one.
- First python of the night.
I know I love you. I know.
(subtle music)
I have my permit to transport
invasive species like this.
Put them down at a more appropriate site
where I can do the proper cleaning
and storage of these guys.
That way we can make
sure it's all pain free.
Just toss 'em in a
pillowcase, bag 'em on up.
Good to go.
(car engine revving)
- Here comes the car.
- Yeah, I see it ma'am.
- It's good to see you again Ben.
- Yes. Good to see you. How you doing?
- [Madison] I'm doing good.
Just caught my first one of the night.
- Well, congratulations.
You got a little hatchling in the sack?
- Yeah, a little hatchling,
looking for his head right over here.
- Miss Anne.
This young lady has something
she'd like to show you.
- Hello. Alright,
so I have his head right over here.
You don't need to worry.
- It's beautiful.
- Coming right outta the tree line it.
You definitely have to put your time in.
I mean, I probably--
- [Anne] It's the first one I've seen
and this is our fifth night.
- And I know it seems like
a very slow competition.
- [Anne] Look at that pattern.
(subtle music)
She is gorgeous.
- [Madison] You wanna touch him?
- Want me to, want me to pith him for you?
- I'm not gonna put this
snake down right now.
I'm gonna do my euthanization at home
where it's more appropriate.
So I'm not gonna do any of
that stuff on camera here.
So I'll see you guys later, I hope.
Have a good night.
- [Toby] Thank you very much.
- I wanna pith one.
- [Toby] Sorry ma'am.
- I took a little nibble of ecstasy.
Oh, I got overwhelmed.
What is that?
This is the part of the night
if I was out here by myself,
I would just be like, what?
What the f*ck am I doing?
- Let me drive.
Go switch.
- We drove Loop Road in one
direction for seven hours.
We didn't so much as see a bullfrog.
another night, nothing.
(crickets chirping)
(subtle music)
- Thus far we've been unsuccessful
in locating those big invasive snakes.
But I have confidence.
(subtle music)
(car engine revving)
I've gone as many as seven
days in a row with no luck.
Only to ride out and pick
up five on the eighth night.
Sometimes luck shines on
you. Sometimes it don't.
- [Anne] I expected to sit in the truck,
Toby chase the snakes.
- There's all kind of
experts that don't know
what the heck they're talking about
and I don't wanna be perceived as that.
That might be vanity or pride.
But I made her a promise
I was gonna catch her one
and I'm gonna keep it.
(car engine revving)
He was born and raised
around Jacksonville
A nice young man, not the kind to k*ll
But a jealous fight
and a flashin' blade
Sent him on the run
through the Everglades
A-runnin' like a dog
through the Everglades
Well, the posse went in,
and they came back out
They said he'll die,
and there ain't no doubt
It's an eye for an eye
so the debt is paid
He won't last long in the Everglades
A man can't live in the Everglades
- I pray Lord, that
you'll bless this hunter
regardless if he catches
the biggest snake out there
or he catches the most Lord.
Here my prayer, and let's get it done.
The natives would say
They'd seen him runnin'
through the Everglades
Runnin' like a dog
through the Everglades
Where a man can hide
and never be found
And have no fear of the bayin' hound
But he better keep a-movin'
and don't stand still
If the skeeters don't get
him then the gators will
The skeeters don't get
him then the gators will
The skeeters don't get
him then the gators will
The skeeters don't get
him then the gators will
The skeeters don't get
him then the gators will
(air whooshing)
(phone ringing)
- [Jim] Ervin. Hey, this is Jim McCartney.
I signed up for the Python
festival you guys are having.
I'm speaking to several Python hunters.
There's a quite a few people
interested in this event.
I'm gonna start sending
people down your way.
This might turn into
something pretty cool.
(subtle music)
- These are amazing.
- This one looks familiar. You know what--
- Oh, is that the one that you caught?
- I remember when we caught this.
(Amy laughing)
- Amy Siewe is known
as the python huntress.
- And I'm gonna need your
help when it starting to go.
- Holy f*cking big.
- [Reporter] My next guest
decided to quit her real estate business
to hunt pythons.
- Good snake, man.
I know you're doing the challenge,
but you should enter
this into the Python Festival.
How many do you think you have in here?
You have to have at least 20 in there.
- [Amy] At least.
- You're signing up for
the general division,
heaviest python divisions,
skin-a-snake division.
- Okay. There's that.
- What's going on man?
- Good to see you, bro.
How you doing?
- Doing alright.
- Catching big with babies.
- I hope so. We're trying, yes.
- Wow. It's Amy, the python huntress baby.
It's big time tonight. Wow.
- Alright. This is Dave and his family.
They understand that they're doing this
at their own free will, blah, blah, blah.
They are not gonna hold me accountable
for any deaths, unfortunately
that has happened out here.
That may occur while you're on my tour.
I got some more people that wanna sign up.
(air whooshing)
Max Fish Camp is kind
of like a cornerstone
of glades man culture.
Shannon and I have been coming out here
for the better part of 15 years,
right after I got custody of her.
This place is directly
responsible for why Shannon
and I fell in love with the Everglades.
This place is it.
- [Dave] You're pretty f*cking
good at making burgers, Jim.
- Tell me about it.
You know this festival,
it's not gonna be these
outta state people.
It's gonna be a lot more
locals, people like you and me.
- Well, to be honest with you,
I just find all of these python challenges
to be a distraction.
I mean, God, back then
when the first Python Super Bowl happened,
they were saying that
there were supposed to be
600,000 of these pythons in
Everglades which is ludicrous.
This property was crawling.
Every snake hunter had a journalist
and a cameraman with them,
taking them on these wild escapades,
looking for the elusive python.
And they found very few.
I said to myself,
this is the biggest damn
media stunt I've ever seen.
And I stayed away from it.
I've been here my entire life.
My family's lived on this
land for five generations.
There's no arguing the fact
that the small game population
in the Everglades has
become completely decimated
to near extinction levels.
The python itself gets the blame for 98%
of the demise of the small game population
in the Everglades
but the reality of it
is that's impossible.
They're not broad spread enough
and their population density isn't enough
to be responsible for that
much wildlife missing.
The Everglades has gotta be
one of the most resilient
ecologies on the planet
because the powers that be
have done everything we can
in the last century to try and destroy it.
Because it boils down
to dollars and cents,
which is South Florida's urban sprawl
and how do we maintain it?
High water levels, water quality,
extended droughts, all thrown
in that mix with the pythons.
But when the Python problem
gained a lot more notoriety,
they became the easy one to blame.
- I knew that the Python
program wasn't on the level,
but I didn't realize
that it went this deep.
It frustrates you.
I'd like to do what I can to help
and I'd love to see everybody get together
and do something about
it, but at the same time,
like just as quick, just get
out and put it all behind me.
Go somewhere where I
don't have to think about
this stuff anymore.
Maybe I'll head down in
the Amazon, maybe Guyana.
- Yeah, I hear Guyana is beautiful.
But you can't give up, Jim.
(car engine revving)
(crickets chirping)
- This is a Central American Basilisk.
It's against the law to
release non-indigenous species.
So now that I caught it,
I'll bag it up and euthanize it tomorrow.
It has to be done, I'm sorry.
But it's a beautiful animal.
It's not their fault.
It's not their fault they're here.
It's our fault.
Mankind in general is
not a perfect species.
It's certainly proven over the years
how many times we've messed
up a lot of different things,
whether they know it or not.
People on the East and
the West coast of Florida
all depend on the Everglades
because that is where
our water comes from.
We've been trying to manage the water flow
of the Everglades since the 1800s
so that we can use it.
And all we've done is mess
it up worse and worse.
When you do something
like that to a habitat,
wildlife responds.
(water splashing)
So let's face it,
humans are the most
invasive species of all.
- [Reporter] Jerry's
brother went to his house
and found him dead inside the back door.
He had been shot to death
nearby was a plastic bag
and a bloody shovel.
The search for who did this
would continue on deep into the night.
(car engine revving)
(gentle music)
- Nobody cares what you did last year.
Nobody cares what I did last week.
They wanna see what I'm doing right now.
I don't give a Turkey about
winning no competitions
or winning any money or nothing like that.
I just want that little
gal to k*ll a snake.
- Good night Miss Anne.
(car engine revving)
(suspenseful music)
Oh. Ah. You busted can of biscuits.
Ah, come on now.
Turn me loose.
Come on baby.
There we go.
(chuckles) All right.
Sheila. Yeah, I'm glad you're still awake,
I got one and now I
finally just caught it.
I just got back in the
truck and turned around
I'm heading back to the motel.
I'm probably about eight minutes out.
Y'all meet me on the front porch.
(gentle music)
(snake hissing)
(suspenseful music)
She's outside.
Help me get her unwrapped here.
She's cutting circulation off. I'm losing.
I'm losing, I'm losing my grip.
I ain't got no feeling in my hand anymore.
- Okay. All right.
We are almost done. We're almost out.
- Bring, bring that- hold up.
- Shes pissed Toby.
- She's gonna be fine. Then
bring your hand over here.
- Your hand is bloody, oh my God.
For f*ck sake.
- All the way up.
- Okay. Higher up.
- You got her. You got her.
- f*ck, I got her. Okay.
- Alright.
- Holy cow. It's a beautiful female snake.
She's big.
- [Toby] She's not happy.
- How is your arm, are you okay?
- I'm good. I'm good.
I got some blood flowing
back in it right now.
- Yeah, I bet. Oh my gosh.
- Miss Anne, I brought you one to pith.
- I love it. I wanna do it on your fender.
- Okay. That's just fine by me, ma'am.
Put your head up here.
- [Sheila] You guys ready?
- [Anne] You make an imaginary X
between the jaw line and the eye
and you pith it right in the middle.
- There you are Miss Anne.
- Goodbye.
- Find your spot.
- Goodbye forever that's...
Oh, you got blood on your hands.
- Yeah. She chewed me up a little bit.
- I'm doing this for
the innocent creatures,
for Bambi and Peter Cottontail.
We can't take it back to Burma
because it has American diseases now,
so we just have to k*ll it.
- Bring it on down.
- Oh honey, I'm so sorry.
- [Toby] Give it a twist.
Scramble. Scramble, scramble.
- [Anne] This is the humane
way to k*ll the snake.
- Thrust all the way through.
- What do you think, Toby?
- I think it's time.
Un-wrap her. Un-wrap her.
Itll cut the circulation off on ya quick.
- We saved a bunch of
little forest animals.
- That's right. I told you
wasn't going be able to sleep,
but I was feeling ashamed to myself.
I ain't found a snake for
you.
True. And I was saying bad things
about how boring snake hunting was.
(both laughing)
Thank you for finding it, Toby.
- I brought over my tape measure,
yall wanna check it out?
- Oh yeah.
- Yeah, man. Here you go.
You hold that in.
Pull her hard, Sheila.
- Okay. Pulling hard.
- Oh, we gotta 7'6 inches. There you go.
So six foot four.
- She's statuesque.
Ooh, it's bigger than me.
- Oh, you got bit Toby.
You got bit?
- Oh yeah. She chewed
me up a couple spots,
but that's all right.
- Tiny, tiny, tiny price to
pay to bring Miss Anne a snake
- Yep. It's worth it.
- Part of the game.
- [Toby] That's right. First time.
(car engine revving)
(air whooshing)
- Okay. We're gonna call
the meeting back to order.
If you boil it all down,
there's a lot of noise out there.
But look what the python's done.
I'm gonna just say this.
I have no qualms with saying,
hey, we're shutting Florida down.
You're gonna have to prove to us
what you're bringing into Florida
is not gonna harm Florida.
Real simple.
We're gonna open up
the public comment portion of the meeting.
- Good morning. I guess
I wanted to ask you all,
what are you doing on this board?
Why were you appointed
and who do you represent?
Youre real estate developers,
youre company owners,
youre successful people in industry,
and you're making decisions here
on Florida Wildlife and
Conservation, so conserve it.
- Thank you. Jim.
- Good day Commissioners.
As you know, my name is Jim Watt,
and this is my 13th time in front of you
pleading with you to
stop k*lling our wildlife
and destroying their habitats
with dangerous pesticides.
Instead, the focus is on the hysteria
with the Python Program.
Despite of all my
pleadings over the years,
nothing changes.
- [Speaker] Thank you, Jim.
- This is like my job.
I get up in the morning
and I wake up pissed off.
The Python Program needs to
be stopped dead in the water.
It's a waste of money
and it demonizes snakes.
Pythons, they're a scapegoat.
- It sounds like there's
a lot more to this
than I ever thought.
- Good tenders. I believe that rabbits
and a lot of small game
has been taken out by aquatic pesticides.
- [Jimbo] This is public records?
This is all their reports.
- This is public records. That's correct.
They're just spraying
more poison in the water
and it's k*lling off our
wildlife on an epic scale.
- I wish my brain didn't
work the way it did.
I wish I didn't have all these thoughts
going through my head all the time.
You got so many other people
saying different things
and it's like we put
somebody who's hell bent
on destroying something in
charge of protecting that thing.
These snakes, they shouldn't be here.
They're causing harm,
but them and themselves
aren't the cause of the
decline of the Everglades.
- It was kinda alarming
to see Toby got bit,
I thought like maybe he's
gonna be a little slow
for handling raptors
which turns out he was,
he got bit, you know.
But if you grab him mid body,
you got about a split second to move him
and get off of him or
theyre gonna grab you.
So that was a mistake he
should have read into.
I get jealous for like a split second
and then I'm like, you know, it's okay.
It's like a five mile race.
You know, everybody's ahead of
you, but you don't slow down
'cause you might just end up passing them.
Hey, good for him.
One more python outta the swamp.
(gentle music)
- You have your own
knife you'd like to use.
Just work these little
scissors up in there
and then just cut your way.
- [Amy] You wanna do it?
- Not particularly. I've done it.
- I feel like I'm taking your fun.
- No, I've skinned a couple hundred.
I promise I'm good (laughs)
- All right.
- Like Popeye's spinach.
That'll perk me right up.
One snake ain't gonna win anything.
So I, I figured it'd be better use
we just have a little barbecue
and let everybody see what it tastes like.
Get a grip and get this started.
It should come off a lot easier.
- Yeah. Oh my God.
You can't not look.
It's like, I don't wanna
look, but I can't look away.
- Toby went out and got the snake
after I bailed.
It was alive and it was k*lling his arm
because he had to keep it
alive so I could pith it.
- That's the way to go.
- I felt like a cold, cruel k*ller.
No emotion (laughs)
No emotion.
Dead snake. Good.
- Looking good. You
cook snake before Toby?
- Yessir.
- Right on.
- [Sheila] We need some garlic, butter,
and then some olive oil maybe.
- I've never tried snake before,
but I know it's terrible.
'Cause if you think about it,
like what are they eating?
They're eating animals
that we wouldn't eat.
- [Toby] Tastes pretty
good to me. I like it.
- [Sheila] How long does
snake have to cook for?
- About five minutes per side.
- [Anne] Are you Richie?
- [Richard] Yeah, that's me.
You didn't Recognize me?
- I did not recognize you.
when I first saw you I
thought you were beautiful.
- [Richard] Thank you.
- But tonight, nah, you
don't look the same.
You don't look the same at all.
- [Sheila] You dont even look more beautiful?
- I think you cut yourself shaving.
- I did. I did. I did.
- Toby, you wanna let us know
which ones are done and
which ones are ready.
- [Sheila] We need our taste tester.
- Bring them on.
- [Sheila] Kind of hot.
- No, it's just right.
It's perfect.
- [Monica] The snake is cooked.
- The snake is cooked.
- [Sheila] It's hot.
- Pretty tough.
- At least you're eating it.
It's not eating the rabbits, right?
- Right on.
- Yeah, I like it.
I'm on my second.
Good, I like it.
- This sh*t is a*s.
This sh*t tastes like utter a*s.
- It's an acquired taste.
It's good though. I like it.
- Thank you.
- Stay safe.
- Go find a snake for us.
- I will. I will.
(car engine revving)
- I like it here and so I'll be back,
but not for the hunt.
I come out here to save the glades,
but I have a feeling the
glades are gonna be okay.
So does it make a difference?
I think it makes a difference
in getting people to Florida,
which Florida's really f*cking good at.
Getting people to come to Florida,
so I have no savior complex about it.
I'm just like one of these yahoos out here
hoping to run into one.
(crickets chirping)
Hey sweetie, it's me.
I'm just calling to say
hi and hear your voice
before I go out for the
last night of the hunt.
I just had a little microdose
and this is my last chance.
So wish me some good snakin luck
and I'll see you soon.
Okay, love you. Bye.
(water splashing)
I don't know what I'm doing.
I don't know the good spots
and I could really reason
my way out of doing this.
I've spent thousands and
thousands of dollars on this
and I'll probably not catch a python,
but as far as I can remember,
finding a snake has been one
of the most exciting things
that can happen to me.
That's f*cking amazing.
Here froggy froggy.
It's what I came out here to do,
but I'm not a snake k*ller.
Oh.
(subtle music)
Holy sh*t.
What the f*ck.
(suspenseful music)
(laughs) I got it.
Oh my god.
That's awesome.
Oh my God. Who did this?
Well, sh**t.
(crickets chirping)
(Frogs croaking)
- Hello. Two more.
- All right, we're all set.
- [Madison] Awesome. Thank you guys.
(subtle music)
- Im still trying to think of ways
to fix this or change things
and I really think this festival
is still the way to do it.
(subtle music)
It is for people who
actually live down here
and care about the environment,
not just k*lling pythons.
(subtle music)
(upbeat music)
- We gotta get this hunt going.
Throw that python.
We're going to do the best
dressed python hunter.
Let's hear it. Yay. Best dressed.
(crowd cheering)
Okay, stand up here
and hold that snake up.
Money talks in this business.
- Excuse me guys.
- What is the length?
- It's like 14 foot. 13, 14 foot.
- What's the name of your team?
Do we have a name?
That's Shannon. That's
Glades girl right there.
- A lot of people here, man.
We didn't think there was
gonna be this many people.
It's nice.
- Jimbo. Where are you Jimbo?
There he is. This man came in
all of a sudden everybody's
coming to the Python festival.
(crowd applauding)
Oh, we're gonna do the snake train.
(faint upbeat music)
- Testing one, two.
Mic check one, two, three, four, five.
- A total of 209 invasive
pythons were removed
from the Everglades system
by participants this year.
Not a record, but right at the
top there, which is amazing.
We had over a thousand registrants.
Think about that.
People from a variety of
states and even Belgium.
So Jan's nodding her head.
We're gonna go right to
the prize categories, okay?
- On the first prize the
longest Python, Amy Siewe.
(audience applauding)
Amy. Where's Amy?
Amy, the winner of the snake train.
We're gonna do the longest snake
Jimbo get your butt over here come on.
Excuse me sweetheart.
We have Jimbo walking through the crowd
with a giant snake.
The winner, 1000 dollars, the longest snake.
If you guys are a little skittish
we're gonna do skin-a-snake.
We're gonna put em on the table
and we'll skin em on the table.
Lay em on the table, side by side.
(faint upbeat music)
Were gonna tie em to a pole old, old fashioned style
and we're going to strip them clean.
- Do you wanna touch it?
How many people here are caught a Python?
They're all around us in our
backyard, in our front yard.
So they're out there.
And even though we hate
that, we have to k*ll 'em.
They've gotta go.
Look at all of them.
Were pulling out some eggs.
I wanna try.
(crowd chattering indistinctly)
The python is a bully at the schoolyard.
We have a foreign invader on our American soil here.
This is w*r. w*r to save our home.
Come on tug of w*r, whos winning??
Lets get these snakes out of the glades. And take our home back.
Thats why were here with hunters like Amy and Jimbo
And Shannon. These are the heroes of the Everglades.
- [Announcer] How many of you guys
want another python festival next year?
(audience applauding)
- It is my honor to present the
ultimate grand prize winner.
Drum roll please.
(audience applauding)
Is, Paul Hobbs.
(audience applauding)
- Three generations of
python hunters here.
Great story here. Love to see it.
So yeah, let's get some pictures.
(audience applauding)
- Why would you all say
to go into the Everglades
and help our ecosystem?
- So they're just
estimating the Everglades
and it's what people want
to come here to experience
is the wildlife, the
nature of the animals.
- That is awesome, man.
- [Reporter] The results are in
Florida's Python Challenge.
- [Reporter] The local
Andrew Perez is showing us
who captured that grand prize.
- [Reporter] Is this year's swamping
a champion Florida python hunter.
- We've seen a decline
of rabbits and raccoons,
possums, all those.
There's definitely less.
- [Reporter] At the end of the day,
Florida is the one that wins here.
(air whooshing)
(car engine revving)
- [Announcer] Imagine an oasis,
a natural world untouched
by the failings of man.
A place where nature can thrive
when left to its own devices.
Welcome to Guyana.
The only question is,
are you ready for your next adventure?
(car engine revving)
(phone ringing)
- [Jimbo] Shannon, where you at?
- [Shannon] 27.
- [Jimbo] You wanna get
out for a ride tonight?
(subtle music)
- There's only two
things to do in Florida.
You either go to this swamp
or you go to the beach.
(audience laughing)
I don't spend much time at the beach,
but I spend my time out in the woods here
for the Python challenge this year
then we spent 10 days together.
Catchin snakes or mostly attempting to.
I've been trying to do my
part in encouraging others
to do theirs, to help try
to get it under control.
I don't know that at this point
we'll ever eradicate the species,
but if we can control the spread,
let Mother Nature kind of
balance things out a little bit,
we'll be all right.
- [Reporter] Toby Benoit.
- Alright, thank you all.
(audience applauding)
The Florida Python
challenge has ended already.
I'm making plans for next year.
This competition has been quite successful
at bringing awareness to the
platter and native wildlife,
as well as removing good
numbers of the serpents.
It's believed that the efforts
of all the python hunters
beginning to pay off.
These folks are on the forefront
of the world on invasive species.
They're starting to see more
small game wildlife returning
that gives them hope that their efforts
have not been in vain.
(subtle music)
On my last night of snaking in the Glades,
I pulled over and watched the sunrise.
I felt as if I was watching
heaven revealing itself.
It's got the signs of gators, bull frogs,
birds singing out their
songs of good morning
As the sky bursts forth with golden hues
of purple, pink, and blue.
(subtle music)
I'm confident that there
are no streets of gold
or gates of pearl, but
Cypress and palm studded
tiny islands dotting a
flowing river of grass
for just as far as a
fellow could wanna see,
that right there is my heaven.
(subtle music)
- What is that right there?
It's a baby.
What do you wanna do?
Anyone coming?
I think we're good.
(lively music)
One of them plays a piccolo in my ear
Another one makes me smell
things that aren't there
And they know where to hide
And they know everything
that's inside of my head
Tiny demons
Inside me
- Come on, let's go.
One of them ties a
lasso around my heart
Another one makes me
nod when I drive the car
And they won't ever leave
But they won't show their faces to me
And they wait 'til I feel
Like they're gone
Then they jump out and steal my relief
Tiny demons
And they know where to hide
And they know everything
that's inside of my head
Tiny demons
And they won't ever leave
But they won't show their faces to me
Tiny demons
Inside me
Tiny demons
Inside me
Tiny demons
Inside me
Tiny demons
(Frogs Croaking)
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Python Hunt, The (2025)
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