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Hunting pythons in Florida for profit and therapy – Health and Lifestyle News – Report by AFR

Enrique Galan is rarely happier than when he disappears deep into the Everglades to hunt Burmese pythons, an invasive species that has been ravaging Florida’s wetland ecosystem for decades.

When the 34-year-old isn’t working his job as a cultural events director in Miami, he spends his time tracking down Southeast Asia’s nocturnal reptiles.

He does so as a professional hunter hired by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to help control the python population, which is estimated to be in the tens of thousands.

At night, Galan drives slowly for miles on paved roads and gravel tracks, his flashlight shining on strips of grass and tree roots and on the banks of streams where alligator eyes occasionally twinkle.

He charges $13 per hour plus an additional fee per python found: $50 if it is up to 4 feet long and $25 more for each additional foot.

But on this August evening he has an additional motivation.

The FWC held a 10-day python hunting competition that was attended by 800 people. The prize is $2,500 for whoever finds and kills the most pythons in each of the categories – professional and amateur hunters.

And Galan would love to win this money to celebrate the arrival of Jesus, his newborn baby.

– Pets released into the wild –

Burmese pythons, originally brought to the United States as pets, have become a threat to the Everglades since humans released them into the wild in the late 1970s.

The snake has no natural predators and feeds on other reptiles, birds, and mammals such as raccoons and white-tailed deer.

“You’re an amazing predator,” says Galan admiringly.

Specimens in the Everglades average between two and nine feet long, but finding them at night in the more than 1.5 million acres (607,000 hectares) of wetland requires skill and patience.

Galan has a trained eye, as well as the courage and determination required for the job. After two unsuccessful nights, he spots a shadow on the shoulder of Highway 41: he jumps out of his truck and pounces on the animal, a young Burmese python.

He grabs it behind his head to avoid being bitten, puts it in a cloth bag and ties it in a knot. He will kill it hours later with a BB gun.

A few kilometers further, a giant python slithers across the asphalt. Galan storms out of his truck again, but this time the snake escapes into the grass, leaving behind a strong musky odor, a defense mechanism.

– therapy for some –

Galan took an online training course before hunting pythons but says he learned everything he knows from Tom Rahill, a 65-year-old who founded the Swamp Apes Association 15 years ago to help war veterans cope helping traumatic memories through python hunting.

Rahm Levinson, an Iraq war veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, hunts with Rahill and Galan for several hours.

“It really helped me through a lot of problems at home,” he said.

“I can’t sleep at night and having someone go out at 12, 2am and catch pythons is something productive and good.”

Galan is proud to be part of a project that has eliminated more than 17,000 pythons since the year 2000.

“One of the best things I get from it is the amount of beauty I’m just surrounded by. If you just look closely, open your eyes and observe, you will see a lot of magic here.”

#Hunting #pythons #Florida #profit #therapy

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