Tag: python hunting

Another use for e-bikes: python hunting in the Florida Everglades

“This gives new meaning to riding double!” Kymberly Clark, an avid python hunter, stated after “removing” a 10-footer from the Everglades.

Kimberly Clark is passionate about removing invasive Burmese pythons from the Florida Everglades, and she seems to have discovered a silent and effective means of pursuit: an e-bike.

Clark on Friday shared an image of a roughly 10-foot python draped around an e-bike and began her Instagram description: “This gives new meaning to riding double! We had plenty of room for this extra passenger on our Haoqi Eagle eBike!”

As Clark noted, Burmese pythons pose an extreme threat to native wildlife and have become so abundant that about the best Florida can hope for is to keep their numbers in check and minimize their spread.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) encourages citizens to become involved in hunting efforts and states openly on its website: “Members of the public may capture and humanely kill nonnative reptiles like Burmese pythons.”

The snakes must be killed where they’re encountered because live transport presents a spread risk and is against the law. “There is no bag limit,” the FWC added.

Clark pointed out that the python on her e-bike was small compared to some of the snakes roaming the everglades. Burmese pythons can measure nearly 20 feet.

Last January, she encountered a much fatter python measuring 15-plus feet crossing a road in the Everglades.

In June 2022, biologists captured what they said was the heaviest python they’d encountered. The pregnant snake – containing 122 eggs – weighed 215 pounds and measured 18 feet.

The python had consumed an entire white-tailed deer as its final meal.

Florida hunters bag giant python, but this ‘monster’ may still be loose

Hunters in Florida recently killed the second-heaviest python ever captured in the state, but rare footage shows perhaps a larger python crossing a road.

The recent capture of a 17-foot, 198-pound python in Florida generated national headlines, mostly because it was the second-heaviest python ever caught in the Sunshine State.

The main image showed five men posing with the dead python, which, as one meteorologist remarked, boasted a head “the size of a football.”

Such captures are indeed noteworthy. Burmese pythons are highly invasive and threaten native wildlife. They do not belong in Florida and the state encourages hunting and removal.

But what people rarely see, because the swamp-dwelling reptiles are nocturnal, are giant live pythons roaming in broad daylight.

One remarkable exception occurred last January, when a photographer out birding with friends captured video footage of a massive python slithering across a road in Everglades National Park.

Kym Clark, who captured the footage, recalled the surprise 11 a.m. encounter for ForTheWin Outdoors.

“It was a very random encounter,” Clark said. “There were no hunters or weapons. We never expected this. Once it hit the grass, it vanished completely in seconds.”

Pythons in Florida prey on native mammals, including deer. They also eat birds and other reptiles, including alligators.

Clark said watching the clearly pregnant python escape caused her to take a more active role in helping with eradication efforts.

Hunters pose with the second-largest python ever caught in Florida. Photo: Mike Elfenbein

“She was loaded with eggs,” Clark explained. “From that day on, I started learning how to hunt pythons because I vow to never let them go again.

“I can catch pythons now, but being honest, I’m not sure I could catch her, even today. It would take at least two strong men in my opinion. But I will sure try if I have the opportunity to meet a monster like this again.”

Clark and her friend estimated the python to measure perhaps 18 feet.

After looking at photos of the 17-foot, 198-pound python captured last week, Clark said she believes the python she and her friends encountered “was actually larger than that.”

The heaviest python captured in Florida was an 18-foot, 215-pound specimen killed in Picayune Strand State Forest in 2021. The longest python measured 19 feet but weighed only 125 pounds.

Floridian dresses for occasion during successful python hunt

A Florida hunter credits dressing like a python to catch a large python recently in the Everglades.

Fly anglers refer to the importance of “matching the hatch” in order to ensure a successful day of fishing.

For python hunter Kymberly Clark, the appropriate phrase is “matching the catch.”

Clark recently removed a large male python from the Florida Everglades while wearing clothes similar in color to her slithery quarry.

“When you match the catch!” Clark boasted via Instagram. “Who needs Gucci when you can dress Burmese Python style. For size perspective, I am 5’ 6.” We didn’t actually measure this guy but he was long and very thin.”

Burmese pythons are invasive and threaten native wildlife in Florida. The state encourages public hunting as a means of keeping python numbers in check and helping to slow their spread to other regions.

The effort has been a struggle, but hunters are doing their part and Clark was proud of her recent catch, stating: “Every python removed makes a big difference in preserving Florida’s ecosystem and protecting our native wildlife.”

Another recent catch involved an enormous python measuring 17 feet, 2 inches and weighing 198 pounds. It was the second-heaviest python ever captured in Florida.

The heaviest was an 18-foot, 215-pound python captured in the Picayune Strand State Forest in 2021. The longest python caught in Florida measured 19 feet but weighed only 125 pounds.