The Florida Everglades is home to one of the most infamous invasive species in the United States. Pythons, originally from Southeast Asia, have made their way into the South Florida ecosystem. They were imported to this country through the exotic pet trade, with their numbers ballooning in the mid 1990s. As the pythons grew, their large size made them difficult to control, and their owners most likely released them into the wild. Scientists now say that tens of thousands of pythons slither amok throughout the Florida Everglades, wreaking havoc on the native species. In response, the South Florida Water Management District contracted thirty python elimination specialists to spend their nights culling the numbers of the invasive snake. I spent one week shadowing five of these specialists as they went about the important work of taking back this fragile ecosystem.
Michael (Mike) Kimmel wrangles a Burmese Python in the Big Cypress National Preserve, FL. (July 18, 2019)
(Left) Brian Hargrove searching for pythons out his truck window in the Big Cypress National Preserve, FL. (July 15, 2019)
(Right) A Burmese Python hatchling caught by Tom Rahill in Rocky Glades, part of the South Florida Water Management District, FL. (July 16, 2019)
Deanna Kalil (left) and Kevin Pavlidis (middle) help to unravel a 15 foot Burmese Python that wrapped itself around the leg of Donna Kalil (right). In the Everglades and Francis S. Taylor Wildlife Management Area, FL. (July 17, 2019)
A frozen python outside the Homestead South Florida Water Management Station in Homestead, FL. (July 15, 2019)
(Left) Tom Rahill stands in front of a tree while searching for Burmese Pythons in Rocky Glades, part of the South Florida Water Management District, FL. (July 16, 2017)
(Right) Ryan Ausburn at his home in Plantation, FL posing with Burmese Python skins he will use to make wallets, lighter covers, and other various goods. (July 19, 2019)
Tom Rahill holds a Praying Mantis in Rocky Glades, part of the South Florida Water Management District, FL. (July 16, 2019)
Tom Rahill holds a Burmese Python in Rocky Glades, part of the South Florida Water Management District, FL. (July 16, 2019)
(Left) A bagged 15 foot Burmese Python sits, buckled up, in the back seat of Donna Kalil's car. In the Everglades and Francis S. Taylor Wildelife Management Area, FL. (July 17, 2019)
(Right) Michael (Mike) Kimmel wrangles a Burmese Python in the Big Cypress National Preserve, FL. (July 18, 2019)
A Barred Owl in the Big Cypress National Preserve, FL. (July 15, 2019)
Kevin Pavlidis (left), Deanna Kalil (middle) and Donna Kalil (right) lift a 15 foot Burmese Python, their fourth and final capture of the night. In the Everglades and Francis S. Taylor Wildlife Management Area, FL. (July 17, 2019)
(Left) Donna Kalil at the Homestead South Florida Water Management District Station after weighing six Burmese Python. FL (July 18, 2019)
(Right) Kevin Pavlidis hold the head of a 15 foot Burmese Python caught in the Everglades and Francis S. Taylor Wildlife Management Area, FL. (July 17, 2019)
Tom Rahill walks through the brush in search of Burmese Pythons in Rocky Glades, part of the South Florida Water Management District, FL. (July 16, 2019)
Michael (Mike) Kimmel holds a Burmese Python hatchling caught in the Big Cypress National Preserve, FL. (July 18, 2019)
(Left) A spider in Rocky Glades, part of the South Florida Water Management District, FL. (July 16, 2019)
(Right) Tom Rahill holds a Burmese Python in Rocky Glades, part of the South Florida Water Management District, FL. (July 16, 2019)
Sawgrass during sunset at Rocky Glades, part of the South Florida Water Management District, FL. (July 16, 2019)
Donna Kalil drives her SUV, fitted with a custom roof platform, through the Everglades and Francis S. Taylor Wildlife Management Area, FL. (TOP) Kevin Pavlidis (left), Deanna Kalil (right). (July 17, 2019)