A 19-year-old South Florida man captured 28 Burmese pythons throughout a 10-day competitors that was created to extend consciousness in regards to the threats the invasive snakes pose to the state's ecology.
Matthew Concepcion was among the many 1,000 individuals from 32 states, Canada and Latvia who participated within the annual problem, which eliminated 231 of the undesirable pythons, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Fee mentioned in a information launch.
For his efforts, Concepcion was awarded the $10,000 Final Grand Prize courtesy of the Bergeron Everglades Basis. Dustin Crum received a $1,500 grand prize for eradicating the longest python, at simply over 11 toes.
Earlier this yr, a group of biologists hauled within the heaviest Burmese python ever captured in Florida. That feminine python weighed 215 kilos, was almost 18 toes lengthy and had 122 creating eggs, in line with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida.
Burmese pythons aren't protected besides by Florida's anti-cruelty regulation, so individuals needed to doc that every one was killed humanely.
Concepcion instructed the South Florida SunSentinel he is been searching pythons for about 5 years, and sometimes appears for them at evening as a result of that is after they're on the transfer, looking for the heat of roads. He makes use of his automobile lights to identify them.
This yr, nonetheless, he solely noticed one on the roads within the Everglades, so he modified methods.
"I labored a levee, caught a pair hatchings, and was like, 'Dang, this is likely to be the ticket!' So each single evening from then on, I went on the market — simply earlier than sunset to sunup."
Concepcion says he walked the canal, utilizing a flashlight to probe the underbrush. Smaller snakes are so effectively camouflaged that he appears for his or her shadows forged by the flashlight beam, he instructed the newspaper. However bigger snakes are simpler to search out.
"They may have a barely purple tint to them. They're actually lovely."
Concepcion mentioned he could use a few of his earnings to purchase a robust lighting setup for his truck, which is able to assist him spot extra snakes.
"Our python hunters are keen about what they do and care very a lot about Florida's valuable atmosphere. We're eradicating report numbers of pythons and we'll maintain at it," South Florida Water Administration District Governing Board Member "Alligator Ron" Bergeron mentioned in a information launch.
Captive Burmese pythons let unfastened by Hurricane Andrew's destruction in 1992 have flourished within the southern Florida ecosystem, decimating native species within the course of.
As we speak the Everglades are overrun with the large snakes and it is had devastating penalties. A 2012 research by the U.S. Geological Survey discovered that after Andrew exacerbated the Burmese python invasion of the Florida Everglades, populations of raccoons and opossums dropped roughly 99 p.c and a few species of rabbits and foxes successfully disappeared.