Florida Python Hunting 2012 Season Opens: $1,500 Reward for Most Snake Kills in Everglades Contest

Florida hunters have new game to stalk: invasive Burmese pythons.

The 2013 Python Challenge begins in January and lasts a month, and hunters can compete for cash prizes. $1,500 will go to the person who kills the most number of pythons, while the hunter who kills the longest snake will win $1,000.

The snakes, which can grow up to 19 feet long, are not native to Florida, and they've been spreading through the Everglades, unbalancing the delicate ecosystem and preying on endangered species like the Key Largo wood rat and the wood stork.

Even more numerous creatures are in trouble. The U.S. Geological Survey says that rabbits and foxes have disappeared in some areas of the Everglades and estimates that 99 percent of raccoons, bobcats and opossums have been eaten.

"We are hoping to gauge from the python challenge the effectiveness of using an incentive-based model as a tool to address this problem," said Florida Wildlife Commission spokesperson Carli Segelson.

Hunters wanting to participate in the challenge must pay a $25 registration fee and take an online training course that focuses on safely hunting the giant snakes, as well as quick and humane ways to kill them.

The competition's website suggests decapitating them with a machete or shooting them in the head.

Hunters will also need to sign a liability waiver, since the snakes, while usually docile, are capable of eating deer and other large mammals, even very smart ones.

The pythons were accidentally introduced to Florida as pets. Some escaped, or were released by their owners when they got to big to care for. The warm and wet environment of the Everglades is ideal for the snakes, and they have few natural predators.

By the 1990s, the snakes were well-established throughout Florida, and scientists estimate there are currently about 10,000 of the snakes in the wild.

This year, the U.S. Department of the Interior banned the importation of Burmese pythons to the United States, hoping to curb their explosive growth, though pet breeders objected.

The contest is divided into two categories, one for the 70 python hunters already licensed by the state, and one for the general public. Each of the two prizes will be awarded to a winner in each category, so amateur hunters won't have to compete with the professionals.

The challenge begins on Jan. 12 and ends on Feb. 10.