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A South Florida teenager has captured 28 Burmese pythons in a 10-day competition to raise awareness of the threat invasive snakes pose to the state’s ecology.
Matthew Concepcion was one of 1,000 participants from 32 states, Canada and Latvia who participated in the annual challenge to remove 231 unwanted pythons, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said.
The 19-year-old received the ultimate prize of $10,000 (£8,785) from the Bergeron Everglades Foundation for his efforts.
Dustin Crum won $1,500 (£1,318) for removing the longest boa constrictor – a python just over 11ft (3.3m).
Earlier this year, a team of biologists dragged in the heaviest Burmese python ever caught in Florida.
The female weighed 215 pounds (98 kilograms), was nearly 18 feet (5 meters) long, and had 122 developing eggs, according to the Southwest Florida Conservation Society.
Burmese pythons are not protected by Florida’s anti-cruelty laws, so participants must document that each python was killed humanely.
Mr. Concepcion told the South Florida Sun Sentinel he has been hunting pythons for about five years, usually looking for them at night, when they are on the move, looking for the warmth of the road. He uses his headlights to spot them.
This year, however, he only found one on Everglades roads, so he changed tack.
“I worked on the dykes, caught a few hatchlings, and was like, ‘Dang, this could be the ticket!’ So every night since then, I’ve been there — just before sunset.”
He said he walked across the canal and probed the bushes with a flashlight.
He told the paper that the smaller snake was well camouflaged and would look for shadows cast by the beam. But larger snakes are easier to find.
“They’ll have a slight purple tint. They’re really pretty.”
Mr Concepcion said he might use some of his earnings to buy a powerful lighting rig for his truck, which would help him spot more snakes.
“Alligator Ron” Bergeron, a member of the South Florida Water Management District Stewardship Council, said, “Our python hunters are passionate about their work and care deeply for Florida’s precious environment.
“We are eliminating a record number of pythons and we will continue to do so.”
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