EVERGLADES CITY, Fla. — A new record has been set in Florida after a man found a python with a total of 111 eggs in the Everglades.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission explained in a Facebook post it was a "record-breaking invasive python nest removed" by contractor, Brandon Rahe.
The Python Action Team Removing Invasive Constrictors program helps remove invasive, nonnative snakes year-round.
In a Facebook post of his own, Rahe explained the number of eggs found makes it the largest active nest ever found by a wild-caught python.
"I’m lucky enough to have found 2 active nests so far, helping to remove future generations of monster snakes where they don’t belong," he wrote, in part.
Registration opened back in May for the 2023 Florida Python Challenge, giving participants a chance to win a share of more than $30,000 in prizes while removing invasive Burmese pythons from the wild.
The 10-day competition runs Aug. 4–13 and is open to both professional and novice snake hunters. A grand prize of $10,000 goes to the participant who removes the most pythons, plus smaller prizes for additional categories.
Participants in last year's competition removed 231 invasive Burmese pythons from the Everglades, an increase from the 2021 number and more than double those removed in 2020. Nearly 1,000 people from 32 states, Canada and Latvia registered.
Burmese pythons are not native to Florida, and they negatively impact native wildlife, officials said. This invasive species is found primarily in and around the Everglades ecosystem in South Florida, where they prey on birds, mammals, and other reptiles. A female Burmese python may lay 50 to 100 eggs at a time. Since 2000, more than 18,000 Burmese pythons have been reported to the FWC as being removed from the environment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
