Participants from all over the country and Canada come for Florida Python Challenge this week

Florida’s Python Challenge began as a loosely planned scramble in the Everglades, an experiment in incentive-based extermination, a novelty that in subsequent years would help spawn reality TV shows, attract a rock star and entice celebrity chefs.

On Friday, more than a decade after the first Python Challenge was held, the event will launch another 10-day swamp safari that is more streamlined than in the early years and carries a bountiful $10,000 grand prize.

While some experienced hunters have called the challenge “hokey,” they acknowledge it keeps worldwide attention on Florida’s invasive Burmese python problem and musters hopeful hunters from throughout the country.

“The Python Challenge has a cult-like following,” said Marshall Jones, whose family owns Mack’s Fish Camp in western Broward County. “People travel from far and wide to come to it. They camp in tents, bring their RVs, all to catch one of these elusive slithering monsters.”

Jones will act as a guide this year to hunters participating in the challenge. He has 17 people signed up, and they will hunt in multiple teams.

“They are coming here specifically to hunt pythons. That is the only reason they are here,” Jones said. “During the day, we’ll do airboat rides and bass fishing. At nighttime, we hunt.”

When is the 2024 Python Challenge?

This year’s Python Challenge begins at 12:01 am Friday and ends at 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 18.

Participants can hunt in designated areas that stretch from western Palm Beach County to the Tamiami Trail in the Big Cypress Wildlife Management Area. Other management areas included in the Python Challenge are Holey Land, Rotenberger and Southern Glades.

What are the prizes for the 2024 Python Challenge?

The $10,000 grand prize is awarded to the participant who removes the most snakes as part of the competition. There are also three competition categories including professional, novice and military. Each category includes a $2,500 price for most pythons caught, $1,500 for the second-highest number of pythons caught and $1,000 for the longest python.

Participants may only win one prize, so if someone wins two, the person will be awarded the prize of the highest value and the next qualifying hunter will win the remaining prize.

Why hunt Burmese pythons?

Florida earnestly began hunting pythons in about 2012. It was the first year of the challenge and the same year a study in Everglades National Park suggested pythons were responsible for a decline of 85% to 100% of the population of medium-sized furry animals, such as raccoons and rabbits.

The Burmese python invasion started with releases — intentional or not — that allowed them to gain a foothold in the park by the mid-1980s, according to the 2021 Florida Python Control plan. By 2000, multiple generations of pythons were living in the park, which is noted in a more than 100-page 2023 report that summarized decades of python research.

How many pythons have been killed by hunters?

In 2017, the South Florida Water Management District started hiring python hunters. They are paid an hourly wage and can earn bonuses based on snake length. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission also began a paid hunter program. Both organizations now have 50 hunters each.

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More than 14,500 pythons have been removed since the FWC and the district teamed up to combat this invasive species, according to a statement this week from the district. The most pythons removed in a single year was 2,629 in 2020.

During the 2023 Python Challenge, 209 snakes were removed. The $10,000 winner that year killed 20 snakes.

Are Burmese pythons migrating north?

There is some evidence to suggest that pythons may be able to survive as far north as Georgia if specific conditions are met. Warming temperatures because of climate change and snakes evolving to be more cold-tolerant could help them expand their territory north.

According to a 2023 United States Geological Survey report, pythons that learn to burrow during cold snaps can also survive in colder temperatures.

How to register for the 2024 Python Challenge

Hunters interested in participating in the Python Challenge can register until the last day of the competition at flpythonchallenge.org. As of Tuesday, there were 622 people registered for this year’s Python Challenge. That included 106 people from other states and two from Ontario, Canada.

Participants must take an online training course to learn how to identify pythons. It also has information on the humane way to kill a snake.

Firearms are not allowed to be used during the event, but air guns and captive bolts can be used to humanely kill pythons.

Python Challenge hype may be hokey but raises awareness

While the hype around Florida’s unique Burmese python hunts can take on a Disneyesque air — in 2020, it was tied to the Super Bowl in Miami Gardens and included a python skin football — it has raised awareness.

Rocker Ozzy Osbourne and celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey have been on python hunts. Politicians, including former Florida Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, have also joined hunts.

Jones said hunters should temper their expectations on what they will find.

“Everyone thinks they are going to trip over a 15-foot-long snake out there,” Jones said. “The truth of the matter is they are exceedingly rare to see or capture.”

Jones said he believes the annual Python Challenge and the paid hunters have reduced the population.

“There is a glimmer of hope,” he said. “As far as rodents and marsh rats and rabbits, we have not seen a resurgence, but there’s been a small population gain the last two years.”

Kimberly Miller is a journalist for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today Network of Florida. She covers real estate and how growth affects South Florida’s environment. Subscribe to The Dirt for a weekly real estate roundup. If you have news tips, please send them to kmiller@pbpost.com. Help support our local journalism; subscribe today.