Florida Python Hunt Challenge

Andrew West/news-press.com

Python hunt snakes its way through Florida - Barry Offenberger is on a mission to redeem his team.

In 2013, they caught several Burmese pythons. The problem is they didn't actually kill them.

"We caught 10 snakes (in) 12 days and were actually disqualified because they had a 'no live capture' rule," Offenberger, of Kendall, said during at Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission python hunt kickoff in Miami on Saturday. "(The state) wanted them euthanized, but we have a no-kill policy. But this year they're allowing live snakes, so we're hoping to do well."

Offenberger was one of hundreds of python hunters, biologists, volunteers and bystanders who flocked to the Florida International University campus to celebrate another hunt as well as efforts to exterminate or at least contain animals like lionfish and tegu lizards -- two invasive species that are causing increasing ecological harm to the Sunshine State.

His team — Swamp Apes — consists mostly of veterans who want to help save Florida's fragile ecosystems.

"We remove invasive exotic plants while getting veterans involved," he said. "It just so happens that pythons are out there, so that's what we're working on."

More than 600 hunters have registered to hunt these massive constrictors.

Hunting pythons in South Florida is just plain odd. Most hunting focuses on taking animals that are native to the landscape. Burmese pythons, as the name suggest, are found in Asia, where biologists are, oddly, trying to save the species from extinction in its home range.

Here, they compete with and eat native species — some of which are endangered or threatened.

About 1,600 hunters participated in the 2013 hunt, killing just 68 snakes.

The 2013 hunt drew worldwide attention, with media from across the country, Canada, Europe and Australia following people toting everything from rifles, to machetes, paint rollers and even cordless electric screw drivers ("you just scramble their brains around a little bit and that's it," a hunter said to The News-Press in 2013).

"If I were hunting, I'd go out today," said Jeff Fobb, who stars on the TV show Swamp Wars and works for the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue's Venom Response Unit. "After the end of that cold weather, any sunny day is a good day. right now they're probably at their maximum sunning time."

Fobb gave several demonstrations regarding how to safely handle and capture pythons.

The hunt last for 30 days, and thousands of dollars in prize money is up for grabs.

"We're trying to provide an opportunity for people who don't necessarily want to go out and wrangle pythons," said Carli Segelson, with FWC. "They can come out to this event and learn about invasive species and how they impact our ecology (without going into the woods)."

Linda Friar, with Everglades National Park, said pythons first appeared in numbers in the late 1990s and that the species has likely established a permanent breeding population.

"The animals adapted to this habitat across a big landscape," Friar said. "We'll never eradicate the python. We may be able to contain it, but what's the next step? The cost of containment of all these species, we just don't have the resources."

In 2013, Brian Barrows, of Fort Myers, led the competition for amateur hunters, winning $1,500 for harvesting six snakes. His friend, Paul Shannon, of Lehigh Acres, won $1,000 for killing the largest, which measured 14 feet, 3 inches.