Python hunt begins in Fla. Everglades

TALLAHASSEE - Deep in The Everglades, among thick brush and wild creatures only a half of an hour after their journey began, hunters struck snake gold.

It's a wild python and it measures nearly ten feet. It's the first catch on the first day of a program that aims to get rid of the invasive snakes. Biologists say they threaten the delicate eco-system of the Everglades, but eradication is a tall order.

"It's certainly possible, there are 100,000 plus animals and eradication is the ultimate goal, but it's going to be a serious challenge," explains Dave Halleck, a federal biologist.

The program is starting just weeks after a 2-year-old Florida girl was strangled to death by the family pet -- a Burmese python that escaped its enclosure. The accident prompted politicians to redouble their efforts to ban the importation of the snakes and get rid of the ones that are already here.

"We had to crawl underneath the trailer and pull it out of there, and it was close to about 16 feet in length, a Burmese python," according to David Lueck, The Trapper Guy.

Lueck has bagged his fair share of large non-native snakes. The calls have increased in the past five to ten years. He says almost all of them were pets which owners released.

"They usually get them when they're about a foot long. They don't come with instructions in the pet store and some of those snakes, especially pythons, can get up to almost 20 foot in length," adds Lueck.
About a week ago, a Holiday man discovered a five-foot boa constrictor stuffed in the gutter of a home. He snapped pictures of the animal. A trapper said it was likely someone's pet.

"I knew right then it was as wide as a car," offered Nung Bedell.

Just this past weekend, Bedell, a St. Petersburg man came upon another snake; an eight-foot-long boa constrictor, that slithered away before anyone could catch it.

"So we made an attempt and at that point the snake jumped and took off into the water. Being night time you just really don't go into the mangroves and chase snakes at night," added Bedell.

The program in the Everglades will last the next few months. Officials will then decide whether to license more hunters to kill the snakes.