Florida hunters should never cut off the head of a python
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Florida hunters are spotting more giant pythons as fires, cold snaps strip away cover
"I wouldn’t suggest it because the meat has a lot of mercury."
As the 2026 Florida Python Challenge is underway, one Florida restaurant will let you cash in your catch for a pizza. The python challenge kicked off on Friday as avid and amateur hunters alike compete for cash prizes as they work to rid the Everglades of the ravenous,
The News-Press and Naples Daily News asked Kodiak Hengstebeck of the FWC 10 questions about this year's Python Challenge.
Florida's Python Challenge is an annual event encouraging people to hunt Burmese Pythons, a reptile species invasive to Florida's ecosystem.
Taylor Stanberry became the first woman to win Florida's annual python challenge last year by catching 60 pythons during the 10-day competition.
The Cool Down on MSN
Florida crews find two 17-foot Burmese pythons together, likely preying on white-tailed deer
When invasive predators grow this large, they can alter entire food webs.
What began as a family outing to help remove invasive snakes from Florida's Everglades quickly turned into a terrifying fight for survival. Carl Jackson believed he had spotted a Burmese python measuring about 12 feet as it crossed a dirt road in Big Cypress National Preserve.
