MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The annual Florida Python Challenge is on. More than 600 snake hunters - amateurs and professionals - are scattered across the Everglades, on a mission to capture as many Burmese pythons as they can wrangle.
TOM RAHILL: It shouldn't be called python hunting. It should be called python picking up.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Tom Rahill has what I would consider a terrifying job. He's one of the picker-uppers.
RAHILL: And you know you're about ready to have an intimate encounter with a big and potentially aggressive animal.
FADEL: Yikes. Burmese pythons can grow up to 9 feet long in Florida. Once captured, they're euthanized because they're considered an invasive species. The snakes bite and then squeeze their prey to death. They've been known to kill animals as large as alligators and deer.
MARTIN: Now, this isn't Rahill's first python hunt. He is the founder of the Swamp Apes, a group that takes veterans to the Everglades as a form of therapy and adventure.
RAHILL: They get to utilize their military skills while doing something good for the environment.
FADEL: Burmese pythons were popular pets in Florida in the late 1970s and '80s. Then some owners began releasing them, and the python population in southern Florida exploded. Some estimates put it as high as 300,000 - thus the hunt.
RAHILL: Python hunting is similar to fishing, where, say you're fishing, and you throw your line in, and a fish is on the line. And you're reeling that fish in, and you just about have it to shore, and it spits the hook and disappears.
FADEL: Whoever catches the most snakes during the Florida Python Challenge wins $10,000.
MARTIN: But so far this time, Rahill has only caught a hatchling.
RAHILL: You have to keep your eyes on that snake. It's amazing how quick they can disappear into the jungle.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SNAKE EYE")
AC/DC: (Singing) When you hear the rattle, better be awake. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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