Florida is letting you join the state’s python battle, soon offering an online program that’ll tell you all about the invasive snakes.
The free hourlong session, known as “Python Patrol,” will be presented by a biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. You don’t need to be an expert: Snake-handling experience isn’t required to participate.
Attendees will learn how to identify Burmese pythons, how to safely search for them, as well as how to capture and humanely kill them. The classes also will detail how to report pythons to the wildlife commission.
“Python Patrol” will be presented the third Thursday of each month. The first virtual class will be offered at 7 p.m. Aug. 22. More classes will be presented at 7 p.m. Sept. 19, and 7 p.m. Oct. 17. Spaces are unlimited and no prior registration is required. You can join online at myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/nonnatives/python/patrol.
Amy Siewe, a python hunter and guide, said there is plenty to learn. For example, baby pythons that have just hatched are similar in size to the area’s native snakes and can be difficult for non-professionals to tell the difference.
“It’s important that people do know the difference between the pythons and our native snakes so they don’t harm our native snakes,” Siewe said.
She also said it can be a process to learn what to do.
“People don’t know what to do when they come across a 10-foot python,” Siewe said. “It’s really important they learn how to handle it properly — for their own safety — because these are big snakes. They’re not happy when they’re caught, and they’ve got a mouthful of razor sharp teeth.”
One of the largest snakes in the world, the Burmese python is a nonvenomous constrictor found primarily in and around the Everglades ecosystem in south Florida. Added to Florida’s prohibited species list in 2021, the snake is an invasive species in Florida that represents a threat to native wildlife.
“These pythons are dietary generalists, preying upon native mammals, reptiles and birds, including some endangered or threatened species such as the endangered Key Largo woodrat,” said Lisa Thompson, with the wildlife commission’s division of habitat and species conservation.
The wildlife commission works with partners to manage the pythons in a variety of ways, and with “Python Patrol” the public can get involved too.
“It’s absolutely awesome what they’re [the wildlife commission] doing,” said Donna Kalil, a python elimination specialist with the South Florida Water Management District. “I think they should do much more of it to make sure that the public knows and is aware of what to do while they’re out there python hunting.”
Other ways for the public to get involved in conservation efforts include helping raise awareness about invasive species, getting involved in removal efforts of nonnative wildlife in events like the 2024 Florida Python Challenge, happening Aug. 9 to Aug. 18.
“The more people that get involved in helping to remove nonnative species means the more we can protect native wildlife and Florida’s incredible ecosystems,” Thompson said.
There’s also a hot line: Anyone can report sightings of Burmese pythons and other nonnative snakes to the wildlife commission’s invasive species hot line at 888-Ive-Got1 (888-483-4681).
Sightings of other nonnative species can be reported online at IveGot1.org or on the free IveGot1 app.
