Scientists in Florida Used a “Scout” Snake to Track and Kill a 16-Foot Invasive Python

A wildlife biologist poses with a 16-foot python caught using radio telemetry. Conservancy of Southwest Florida.

A group of biologists recently wrangled a beast of a python on an excursion in South Florida. Conservancy of Southwest Florida biologists Ian Bartoszek and Ian Easterling went python hunting earlier in February, accompanied by Jon and Julie Kukk, who had won an auction at a charity fishing tournament to accompany and assist them.  

The Kukks likely didn’t realize quite what they were in for. That morning, Bartoszek and Easterling used a unique tactic to locate an invasive python for removal, using radio-telemetry to track male “scout” pythons, which had already been equipped with tracking devices. The tactic is known to help scientists locate female pythons during breeding season.  

That morning, Bartoszek and Easterling decided to follow “Ronin” a 50-pound, 12-foot male scout python . While walking toward Ronin, they saw a massive snake floating on the edge of a weedy canal. They thought it might be Ronin—but soon realized that it was a bigger serpent. Bartoszek quickly stepped on the snake’s head while Easterling and Jon Kukk grabbed its body.  

“It was a large female python,” said Bartoszek in a press release. “She was upset and thrashed around, taking all hands to restrain her.” 

Eventually, the group managed to get the snake up the bank and subdue it, before euthanizing it according to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission regulations. The snake taped in at a whopping 16 feet and weighed 120 pounds.  

According to the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, the snake’s “humane removal from the ecosystem will keep an additional 50 invasive pythons from hatching this season and many more over future years. To date, the [organization’s python removal] team has removed over 1,200 pythons weighing over 33,000 pounds from Collier County.” 

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Burmese pythons are one of the most destructive invasive species in North America. The snakes, which can grow to over 19 feet long, wreak havoc on native mammals in South Florida. Officials largely rely on professional and recreational python hunters to mitigate the impact and spread of the giant constrictors.  

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