It was the catch of a lifetime.
For contracted python hunter Carl Jackson, wrangling a near record python earlier this year (Jan. 13) was likely satisfying in more ways than one.
First, his struggle with the 202-pound, 16-foot, 10-inch beast (you can see a video of the fight at the top of this page) lasted for almost 15 minutes and included several pauses to uncoil the python from his body. Pythons are not venomous but they kill their prey by suffocating them.
Jackson was not bitten during this enconter.
Once Jackson had one the battle, including getting help from his wife, Trisha, to tape the snake’s mouth shut with black electrical tape, he could take a breath and marvel and what he just pulled from the weeds in the Big Cypress National Preserve.
Jackson is employed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Python Action Team – Removing Invasive Constrictors (PATRIC). He is a full-time python hunter. He moved from Utah, along with his wife and two adopted children, in 2025 and is off to a strong start. Last year he caught the longest python in the PATRIC program. It was 17-feet, 10-inches long. That snake weighed 153 pounds. Jackson weighs 152 pounds.
Jackson declined to discuss compensation for the snake he caught on Jan. 13.
How much will Florida pay you for Burmese pythons?
The FWC’s Python Action Team – Removing Invasive Constrictors, in conjunction with South Florida Water Management District’s Python Elimination Program, contracts with qualified private individuals like Jackson and his family to remove pythons.
Contractors are paid hourly – $13 or $18, depending on the area – for removal efforts. Freelancers earn $50 for each python up to four feet long, plus $25 for each additional foot, and $200 per nest removal after field verification by FWC.
Applications for the Python Action Team are accepted year-round.
The invasive snakes number in the thousands and have unleashed havoc and destruction across more than 1,000 square miles of the Everglades region ecosystem.
Native to Southeast Asia, many of the snakes came to the U.S. due to their popularity in the pet trade, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The snakes were then intentionally or accidentally released in South Florida and quickly spread out.
Burmese pythons have few predators and prey on native species, eating just about anything from field mice to deer.
Controlling their numbers and preventing even more spread is crucial.
How many Burmese pythons are in Florida?
“Burmese pythons are hard to find due to their cryptic coloration and secretive behaviors, and their low detection probability is a major challenge to effective python control and research,” according to Florida Fish and Wildlife.
However, conservative estimates by the USGS put the Burmese python population in the Florida Everglades region in the tens of thousands.
What do Burmese pythons do to Florida? Invasive snake’s impact
Burmese pythons have wrought destruction in the Florida Everglades. They’ve contributed to the decline of small mammals including raccoons, opossums, bobcats, foxes, marsh rabbits and cottontail rabbits, according to a 2012 study.
A recent study revealed that Burmese pythons can eat prey much larger than previously reported. Scientists observed a Burmese python swallowing a 77-pound white-tailed deer, nearly 70 percent of the snake’s mass.
The non-native snakes have proliferated across more than a thousand square miles of South Florida.
What to do if you catch a Burmese python in Florida?
If you catch a Burmese python in Florida, you must humanely kill the snake where it was captured. Transporting live pythons is not permitted.
How to humanely kill a Burmese python in Florida
According to FWC, Burmese pythons are not protected in Florida except by anti-cruelty law. Burmese python must be humanely euthanized.
Two steps must be completed to kill a python humanely:
Can you shoot Burmese pythons in Florida?
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says Burmese pythons can be shot on private property at any time with the landowner’s permission as long as local laws and regulations allow it.
Is python meat edible?
This one’s in the category of just because you can, it doesn’t mean you should.
If you capture and kill a Burmese python, you can legally keep or sell the skins and meat.
It’s not illegal to eat wild-caught python meat, either.
However, according to FWC, mercury level testing of Burmese pythons removed from the Everglades showed levels considered too high for human consumption.
The Florida Department of Health issued a consumption advisory for Burmese pythons found in Florida, advising “Do Not Consume Python” due to the high levels of mercury found in python meat, the FWC said.
According to the EPA, mercury exposure at high levels can harm the brain, heart, kidneys, lungs, and immune system of people of all ages.
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This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Cashing in on killing pythons. What do hunters get paid in Florida?
Reporting by Mark H. Bickel and Kim Luciani, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News / Naples Daily News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Mark H. Bickel and Kim Luciani, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News | USA TODAY Network
