Florida teen captures 28 Burmese pythons while hunting from

A 19-year-old South Florida man captured 28 Burmese pythons throughout a 10-day competitors that was created to extend consciousness concerning the threats the invasive snakes pose to the state’s ecology.

Matthew Concepcion was among the many 1,000 contributors from 32 states, Canada and Latvia who participated within the annual problem, which eliminated 231 of the undesirable pythons, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Fee stated in a information launch.

For his efforts, Concepcion was awarded the $10,000 Final Grand Prize courtesy of the Bergeron Everglades Basis. Dustin Crum received a $1,500 grand prize for eradicating the longest python, at simply over 11 ft.

Earlier this 12 months, a crew of biologists hauled within the heaviest Burmese python ever captured in Florida. That feminine python weighed 215 kilos, was practically 18 ft lengthy and had 122 creating eggs, based on the Conservancy of Southwest Florida.

Burmese pythons aren’t protected besides by Florida’s anti-cruelty regulation, so contributors needed to doc that every one was killed humanely.

Concepcion advised the South Florida SunSentinel he is been searching pythons for about 5 years, and sometimes seems for them at night time as a result of that is once they’re on the transfer, looking for the heat of roads. He makes use of his automobile lights to identify them.

This 12 months, nonetheless, he solely noticed one on the roads within the Everglades, so he modified methods.

“I labored a levee, caught a pair hatchings, and was like, ‘Dang, this is likely to be the ticket!’ So each single night time from then on, I went on the market — simply earlier than sunset to sunup.”

Concepcion says he walked the canal, utilizing a flashlight to probe the underbrush. Smaller snakes are so nicely camouflaged that he seems for his or her shadows solid by the flashlight beam, he advised the newspaper. However bigger snakes are simpler to search out.

“They may have a barely purple tint to them. They’re actually lovely.”

Concepcion stated he might use a few of his earnings to purchase a robust lighting setup for his truck, which is able to assist him spot extra snakes.

“Our python hunters are captivated with what they do and care very a lot about Florida’s valuable atmosphere. We’re eradicating document numbers of pythons and we’ll maintain at it,” South Florida Water Administration District Governing Board Member “Alligator Ron” Bergeron stated in a information launch.

Captive Burmese pythons let free by Hurricane Andrew’s destruction in 1992 have flourished within the southern Florida ecosystem, decimating native species within the course of. 

In the present day the Everglades are overrun with the enormous snakes and it is had devastating penalties. A 2012 research by the U.S. Geological Survey discovered that after Andrew exacerbated the Burmese python invasion of the Florida Everglades, populations of raccoons and opossums dropped roughly 99 % and a few species of rabbits and foxes successfully disappeared.