Python Challenge 2013 Snake Hunting Contest in Florida Begins This Weekend, Prizes For Most Kills and Longest Catch

Florida's 2013 Python Challenge begins on Saturday, kicking off a month-long hunting contest that aims to cull the invasive species.

Through Feb. 10, hunters can compete for cash prizes. $1,500 will go to the person who kills the most number of Burmese pythons, while the hunter who kills the longest snake will win $1,000.

A kickoff event is planned for Jan. 12 at the University of Florida's Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center will host a kickoff event on Saturday, during its invasive species open house.

Prizes will be awarded in a ceremony on Feb. 16 at Zoo Miami.

"I'm not saying at this point they can be eradicated, but we want to control the population as much as possible," said Carli Segelson, spokeswoman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, in regards to the snakes.

"We are hoping to gauge from the python challenge the effectiveness of using an incentive-based model as a tool to address this problem," she added.

Burmese pythons, which can grow to nearly 18 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.

Hunters that want 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.

Snakes submitted to the contest in pieces will still count as a single kill, and only the head can be removed for a snake to qualify in the "longest kill" category.

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.