106 Pythons Captured In Florida, Now Are Boots And Purses, Even Chucks

South Florida, particularly the Everglades, has been invaded by non-native snakes, the much feared Burmese Pythons, usually found in Southeast Asia. The snakes are estimated to be in the thousands in south Florida, roaming freely in swamplands and even some residential areas. There’s plenty of theories about how the snakes got there, but no doubt as to how they survive. The climate of South Florida is tolerable to the snakes, who need high temperatures to survive.

There are several situations that may have contributed to the incidence of this non-native species being introduced to the Everglades. One theory is Hurricane Andrew, which hit Florida fiercely in the 1990s, destroyed multiple pet stores and snake sanctuaries that housed the pythons. When the dwelling was destroyed, some of the snakes survived and headed to the Everglades to live and mate. Unfortunately, a more common situation occurs as well — people buy baby pythons at pet stores and once they are up to ten feet long and bigger, the owner can no longer afford to feed them nor has the space to house them. Many of these owners let the snakes go into the wild. In other parts of the country, the snakes suffer and die due to cold. But in South Florida, they survive just fine.

Besides being a threat to humans, these snakes are a huge threat to indigenous wildlife in the areas they populate. People have killed them to find American Alligators in their bellies, along with fawns, large aquatic birds, and other kinds of snakes. Because the python is so adept at the sport of hunting, many of these animals don’t realize it is near until it tightly wraps around them. The death is somewhat slow for many animals.

Florida wildlife officials have been trying to control the problem for a long time — nearly two decades now, with little success. According to the Guardian, the situation is so critical that Wildlife Programs in Florida are sponsoring python snake hunts. People come from all over the country to participate in the snake hunt, which offers prizes for the longest snake captured as well as the most snakes captured. Bill Booth, of Sarasota, caught a python that was over fifteen feet long, which was the longest catch. His group also got an award for the most snakes captured, which was 33, in the four-week hunt which lasted from Mid-January to Mid-February.

More than a thousand people from 29 states participated in the most recent hunt. There were no deaths, but there were injuries while hunting the predators. Daniel Moniz, from Bricktown, New Jersey, works in construction. Since there’s not much work in the winter, he decided to participate in the hunt. He trekked over 40 miles a day in search of the snakes, and was able to catch one that was over 13 feet long, although it was vicious struggle, biting him in the face, neck, and arm. He had to throw his whole body on top of it, he said.

“I got it under control and stuffed it in a pillow case.”

While fish and wildlife officials readily admit that 106 pythons is not even a dent in the problem, they say the hunts are valuable because they bring awareness of the problem, as well as more hunters the next hunting expedition.

Once the snakes have had complete necropsies, they are turned over to the hunters who captured them. About a third decided to take them to a snake tanner, Brian Wood of All American Gator in Hollywood. Many simply sold them to him for $150 a piece, but many decided to have him make the snake skin into a pair of boots, a handbag, and a few opted for Chuck Taylor-style shoes. The skins are able to be dyed pink, turquoise, and gold, among other colors. Some even opt for black and white wallets. Although such things are available to be bought without capturing a snake, it’s far more affordable to supply the snakeskin yourself. Designer brands that use pythons from Southeast Asia usually are sold at roughly ten times the price of catching your own.