Florida's annual Python Challenge draws hunters to Everglades, some capture snakes year-round
Every year, Florida hosts the "Python Challenge."
And every year, the 10-day event attracts hunters to the Everglades to help curb the invasive species.
But some hunters capture the snakes year-round.
Donna Kalil has caught over 1,000 Burmese pythons and can tell you where she's caught all of them.
"All these little blue maps are where I caught. Gives you the date, the time, the size," Kalil said as she pointed to a map on her phone with markings of where she caught pythons.
And she knows how many she's missed.
"I wanna say five total. Three that maybe I should have been able to catch. I had my hands on them," Kalil said.
She's one of a hundred python hunters contracted for the state.
Year-round, she hops in her truck and combs the creeks for them. We posted up on what she calls the python perch to try and find one.
"I know I'm making a difference. I know every single python that's removed is making a positive difference."
The U.S. Geological Survey estimates there are likely tens of thousands of pythons in South Florida.
Michael Kirkland of the South Florida Water Management District oversees the python elimination program, and he said he doesn't have an estimate on the population.
"It's such a cryptic species and they're so well camouflaged and hard to find. Coupled with the fact that the Everglades is a very vast and relatively inaccessible area, we can't do a conventional population estimate on these species," Kirkland said.
Kirkland said that because of that, he isn't certain if the program is making a dent in the population. But he said there are other ways to measure it. He said hunters are catching fewer large pythons lately, and he said the native animal populations that pythons prey on are increasing.
"In some of the advanced natural areas to the park we are starting to see more marsh rabbits. Before it was zero. I'm cautiously optimistic," Kirkland said.
CBS News Miami was unsuccessful in our hunt, and Kalil said she didn't catch one at all in March. She said the best thing hunters can do is try and stop the population growth at the source.
"When you catch a big female full of eggs, you didn't catch one python you caught maybe 47," Kalil said.
Kalil said another way that she measures the python population out here is by concluding that if she can't find one after searching out here for hours, that may mean there aren't many of them out here.
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