Original subtitles

♪ 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.

You know everyone's out here

has got different motives.

- Oh, chameleon.

- Lot of people just want to kill shit.

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 fuck?

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 fucking periscoping.

I knew it. I knew we were gonna catch him today.

- Ugh.

- Holy shit, it's huge.

- Woo.

- I knew it. I knew we were gonna fucking 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 motherfucker is eating whatever.

- Fuck.

♪ 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 ♪

- Are you hungry, lady?

Huh?

Are you hungry?

Come on. Come on over here.

Come on.

You want the banana?

Fucker.

Bit the shit 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.

- 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 they’re here and why they're thriving.

- 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.

- 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 killing 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?

- Over a thousand people have signed up

for this year's event.

- 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 War III.

- 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.

- 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 shit, 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 kill it.

- Better put your gun away.

- It'd be all right.

- 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.

- Where is the gin?

- Let see. She packed her whole apartment up.

- 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.

- My husband would've loved this, perfect.

Killing 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?"

- She's a pistol.

For her age boy, she's, she's something else.

I'm an eighth generation Florida cracker.

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.

- 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 kill 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 fucking 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 kill 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.

- 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.

- yeah. You're pithing the brains.

You're pithing the brains.

- 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.

- 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 kill 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 shit.

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.

- 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.

- 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.

- Alright, 60 second call out.

- Ready Gary?

- Yep.

- Five, four, three, two, one.

- 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?

I met this kid Brandon last year.

He's a fucking 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.

- If you hear me say snake.

- That's it. That's a call sign, right?

- Alright. Yes sir.

- 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 fucking python.

- 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.

- You guys have peroxide?

- Ooh, it's a Florida water snake.

- Wish it was a python.

- That's a cottonmouth.

That snake right there will kill you tonight if you got bit.

- Oh. Oh. A brown water snake.

- That’s pretty fucking stupid.

- You’re blocking the fucking road!

- I like to take car keys away

You’ll walk the fuck 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 fucking python.

- That's it.

- Yeah. Get it. Boom.

Oh no, that's all.

Get outta here.

- That's a cottonmouth.

- Dude. I almost killed myself.

- Dude this fool grabbed a water moccasin.

- Yeah I did.

- Oh my god. Oh my God.

Gimme a stick dude.

- Let it go.

It's cool. Let it be.

- No, no. Gimme a snake hook.

- Whoa. Don’t throw it-

- Dude, that's a big cottonmouth.

- Brandon. - Brandon.

- Oh my god let that baby go.

- See I love cottonmouths so much.

- 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.

- What's that right there?

Oh, that's a fucking python.

- Shit.

- 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 fucking 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?

- 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.

- Thank you. I mean--

- If you already caught a snake, that's amazing.

- 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.

- If you guys see us out there,

don't be afraid to stop us.

- Granny's outta here.

- Yes ma'am. Granny's outta here.

- We got two babies.

- Beautiful. Were you able to fill out a data sheet?

- Yep. Got it Right here.

- Beautiful. Thank you very much.

- 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.

- 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.

- 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.

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.

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.

- 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.

Sometimes it feels like these agencies

care more about their rules

than actually fixing the problem.

- 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 shit.

I guess it's just like the adrenaline

of something that could kill 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 killed that thing.

Like you better have removed it.

Man, fuck 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 kill.

It's just like a fucking 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 shoot a cat,

you know that seems sick in the head.

- 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.

- 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?

- No. Why do you ask?

- You have a Hawaiian hairdo.

- Right.

- You look like Moana.

- 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.

Hey, come on in.

Here for a snaking party.

Oh, so y'all are here snaking too.

That's what I'm fucking 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 ass 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.

- Howdy. - Hi.

- Come on over for a drink or something.

Or like a, come on over for the party!

- 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.

- 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.

- 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.

- He's a journalist?

- Yeah, he's a writer.

- No. Shit.

- 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 Kill an invasive Python.

And at the age of 82

I figured it was about time to get the job done.

- 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.

- 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.

- Let me just get a vodka cranberry to start. Thanks.

Thank you brother.

- Thank you.

- You're welcome.

- 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 kill the most snakes, put 'em in a train.

And if you got the longest snake baby,

you're gonna win $1000.

- 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.

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.

- 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 Mack’s 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 fucking 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 illegal to keep his pets

'cause they can't survive out there.

But the Florida government, they took that away.

Now if you touch one,

you have to kill 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?

- Probably over a year ago.

- You miss it at all? No

- 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.

- 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 shit. 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.

- You grab it. You got it.

- No, drag him back. Get him back to the truck.

- 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.

Fuck. 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

In the bag.

- 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 fucking 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

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 shit.

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 killer,

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.

- 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.

- 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.

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.

- 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?

- 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--

- It's the first one I've seen

and this is our fifth night.

- And I know it seems like a very slow competition.

- Look at that pattern.

She is gorgeous.

- 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.

- Thank you very much.

- I wanna pith one.

- 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 fuck 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.

- Thus far we've been unsuccessful

in locating those big invasive snakes.

But I have confidence.

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.

- 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.

♪ He was born and raised around Jacksonville ♪

♪ A nice young man, not the kind to kill ♪

♪ 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 ♪

- 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.

- 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 Siewe is known as the python huntress.

- And I'm gonna need your help when it starting to go.

- Holy fucking big.

- 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.

- 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.

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.

- You're pretty fucking 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.

- 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.

So let's face it,

humans are the most invasive species of all.

- 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.

- 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 kill a snake.

- Good night Miss Anne.

Oh. Ah. You busted can of biscuits.

Ah, come on now.

Turn me loose.

Come on baby.

There we go.

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.

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.

- She’s pissed Toby.

- She's gonna be fine. Then bring your hand over here.

- Your hand is bloody, oh my God.

For fucks sake.

- All the way up.

- Okay. Higher up.

- You got her. You got her.

- Fuck, I got her. Okay.

- Alright.

- Holy cow. It's a beautiful female snake.

She's big.

- 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.

- You guys ready?

- 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 kill it.

- Bring it on down.

- Oh honey, I'm so sorry.

- Give it a twist. Scramble. Scramble, scramble.

- This is the humane way to kill the snake.

- Thrust all the way through.

- What do you think, Toby?

- I think it's time.

Un-wrap her. Un-wrap her.

It’ll 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.

Thank you for finding it, Toby.

- I brought over my tape measure, y’all 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.

- That's right. First time.

- 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?

You’re real estate developers, you’re company owners,

you’re 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 killing 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.

- 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.

- 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 killing 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 they’re 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.

- You have your own knife you'd like to use.

Just work these little scissors up in there

and then just cut your way.

- 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

- 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 killing 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 killer.

No emotion

No emotion.

Dead snake. Good.

- Looking good. You cook snake before Toby?

- Yessir.

- Right on.

- 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.

- Tastes pretty good to me. I like it.

- How long does snake have to cook for?

- About five minutes per side.

- Are you Richie?

- Yeah, that's me.

You didn't Recognize me?

- I did not recognize you.

when I first saw you I thought you were beautiful.

- Thank you.

- But tonight, nah, you don't look the same.

You don't look the same at all.

- You don’t 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.

- We need our taste tester.

- Bring them on.

- Kind of hot.

- No, it's just right.

It's perfect.

- The snake is cooked.

- The snake is cooked.

- 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 shit is ass.

This shit tastes like utter ass.

- 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.

- 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 fucking 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.

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.

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 fucking amazing.

Here froggy froggy.

It's what I came out here to do,

but I'm not a snake killer.

Oh.

Holy shit.

What the fuck.

I got it.

Oh my god.

That's awesome.

Oh my God. Who did this?

Well, shoot.

- Hello. Two more.

- All right, we're all set.

- Awesome. Thank you guys.

- I’m 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.

It is for people who actually live down here

and care about the environment,

not just killing pythons.

- 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.

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.

Oh, we're gonna do the snake train.

- 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.

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.

We’re 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 kill 'em.

They've gotta go.

Look at all of them.

We’re pulling out some eggs.

I wanna try.

The python is a bully at the schoolyard.

We have a foreign invader on our American soil here.

This is war. War to save our home.

Come on tug of war, who’s winning??

Lets get these snakes out of the glades. And take our home back.

That’s why we’re here with hunters like Amy and Jimbo

And Shannon. These are the heroes of the Everglades.

- How many of you guys

want another python festival next year?

- It is my honor to present the ultimate grand prize winner.

Drum roll please.

Is, Paul Hobbs.

- Three generations of python hunters here.

Great story here. Love to see it.

So yeah, let's get some pictures.

- 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.

- The results are in

Florida's Python Challenge.

- The local Andrew Perez is showing us

who captured that grand prize.

- 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.

- At the end of the day,

Florida is the one that wins here.

- 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?

- Shannon, where you at?

- 27.

- You wanna get out for a ride tonight?

- There's only two things to do in Florida.

You either go to this swamp or you go to the beach.

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.

- Toby Benoit.

- Alright, thank you all.

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.

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.

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.

- What is that right there?

It's a baby.

What do you wanna do?

Anyone coming?

I think we're good.

♪ 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 ♪