Florida fish and wildlife officials commissioned hunters’ help to tackle thousands of invasive pythons from south-east Asia that have overrun the Everglades

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Snake hunters captured 106 Burmese pythons after weeks of traipsing through the Florida Everglades, state wildlife officials announced on Saturday, along with awards for the most impressive catches.

Thousands of invasive pythons from south-east Asia live and prey on native creatures in the Everglades, and Florida fish and wildlife officials admit that state-sanctioned hunts will not dent the reptiles’ numbers. But the officials say the two hunts since 2009 have helped draw attention to the snake crisis.

The longest python caught during the hunt, which ran between 16 January and 14 February, was 15 feet long. It was caught by a team led by Bill Booth of Sarasota. Booth’s team also took home a prize for largest haul of snakes: 33 pythons.

More than 1,000 people from 29 states registered to remove pythons from south Florida’s wetlands.

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Daniel Moniz of Bricktown, New Jersey, suffered bites to the face, neck and arm from the 13ft, 8.7in python that won him a prize for the longest python caught by an individual.

Faced with a winter layoff from his landscaping job, he completed the wildlife commission’s online training and spent a month biking over 40 miles a day over levees through the wetlands, eventually bagging a total of 13 pythons.

When the longest one tried to swim away, Moniz dove on top of it. “I got it under control and stuffed it in a pillow case,” he said.

“Whether they’re fishermen or they’re hunters or they’re hikers or they’re birdwatchers they’re all looking for the python,” said wildlife commissioner Ron Bergeron. “The success of the python challenge has broadened out to thousands of people now.”

Not all hunters were so competent. Florida Keys resident Ishmael Malone, 39, told the Keysnoter: “We basically had no idea what we were doing but we went looking.” He caught no snakes.

Frank Mazzotti of the University of Florida said the stomach contents of the captured pythons are still being analyzed, but so far the prey has included a fawn and a wood stork and other large wading birds.

Once the necropsies are complete, the hunters can reclaim their dead snakes. About a third of have been turned over to Brian Wood of All American Gator in Hollywood.

Many of the hunters who have given to Wood want him to make something from the pythons they caught: a wall hanging, a pair of boots, or a purse for their partner at a fraction of the cost of a python clutch bearing a luxury designer logo.

Others are selling him their dead snakes for up to $150 apiece, or about the same price Wood pays for fully processed, tanned and dyed python skins imported from Asia. Wood’s store shows swatches of python skins dyed teal, rose pink, pale yellow and metallic gold, among other hues.

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Wood also turned about 20 pythons caught during the 2013 Python Challenge into accessories. Pythons that once slithered through the Everglades now slide out of pockets as black-and-white billfolds or hang off arms as roomy purses. A few now stride down sidewalks, transformed into pairs of Chuck Taylor sneakers.

“It’s kind of cool to be able to get something that’s invasive, not something that’s endangered,” Wood said.

He says he regularly supplies European luxury brands with alligator skins, but they aren’t interested in Florida’s pythons. The state’s invasive snakes aren’t tracked by international trade conventions, and the volume can’t compare with the hundreds of thousands of python skins supplied each by about 10 countries in south-east Asia.

They are also looking for sustainable sources of python skins, while Florida just wants to be rid of its python supply.

Unfortunately, pythons are not Wood’s only supply of invasive species leathers. “I’m trying to promote this lizard we have that’s taken over,” he says, meaning iguanas, which his sons are hired to hunt in south Florida’s urban and suburban environments.