Florida’s Python Challenge is just wrangling snakes for some. But for military vets, it’s a chance to heal

For the animals and plants native to the Florida Everglades, the removal of invasive species like the Burmese python is a tough job that someone’s got to do. But for many military veterans who help out with the task, it has become an opportunity for a kind of therapy in the wild.

Each August, the Florida Python Challenge invites ordinary participants coming from all over to catch and humanely euthanize the rapidly repopulating reptiles introduced to the US via pet trade because they endanger the Everglades by feasting on native wildlife such as American alligators, marsh rabbits and white-tailed deer.

The first Burmese pythons were spotted in the sunshine state in 1979, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and they have been posing a threat to the environment ever since.

All it takes to register for the challenge is a $25 fee and completion of an online training course, which focuses on how to identify the pythons and what the accepted killing methods are.

Then, it’s open season.

This year’s challenge begins Friday at midnight and will end August 18 at 5 p.m. Going into the weekend, there were 729 competitors who had registered, challenge spokesperson Lisa Thompson told CNN.

The contest has three categories: professional, novice and military. The competitor who wrangles the most pythons out of the overall competition wins $10,000.

Details about the 2024 competition were announced by Florida officials in May, citing the state’s “unwavering dedication to Everglades restoration.”

Since the competition’s 2013 launch by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Thompson said, contestants have removed 917 pythons.

Participants can be subject to disqualification for inhumanely killing a python or for removing a native snake, says the official website. The humane way includes “pithing,” a method of destroying the snake’s brain, so the animal doesn’t suffer, in contrast to alternatives such as shooting it with a firearm.

Many participants may enjoy hanging out with apex predators, but for some, it can go a bit deeper than just the thrill.

Stars, stripes and… snakes?

Nobody prepares for the competition quite like the group behind Swamp Apes, a non-profit founded by Floridian Tom Rahill and supported by state agencies. The organization encourages “python-ing,” or the act of removing pythons, among other nature initiatives to serve veterans as they re-connect with the world around them.

Rahill and another Swamp Apes member, retired Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Aycock, are year-round “python contractors,” also with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and are currently defending titleholders in their respective categories for the challenge: longest python in the professional category for Rahill and runner-up for most pythons caught in the military category for Aycock.

The non-profit uses the challenge to help promote its mission and recruit veterans to be hired removing pythons all year long as contractors. Wrangling the up to 19-foot snakes is also a form of “therapy” for the veterans experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injuries, disabilities or difficulties returning to a civilian lifestyle.

“(Many veterans) feel they can’t contribute to society (when they return home),” Aycock told CNN. “And that’s unfortunately what leads a lot of them down the path to suicide, and so for us to be able to get them out there, get them thinking right, get those endorphins flowing, get that brain working again, making them sweat a little bit… get them out there busting the swamp and getting dirty… It brings them back.”

While Rahill isn’t a veteran, he is a lifelong wilderness lover and he started thinking of ways he could benefit those who had gone through multiple deployments as he listened to the experiences of his relatives during their tours in Iraq, met other veterans and dealt with the painful absence of his wife as she taught in Arkansas.

“I believe the Lord put it in my head that, ‘Look, you’re not thinking about your wife and your grief for missing her at 2, 3, or 4 in the morning while you’ve got a 10-foot Python wrapped around your arm,’” Rahill said.

He founded Swamp Apes in 2015.

Aycock says the act of “python-ing” is a “great way to relieve day to day stress” while simultaneously giving him a paramilitary mission to achieve post-duty.

Rahill agrees.

“(Veterans are) able to utilize their military skills in catching the pythons and in addition to which, it helps them to get a sense of self again; a sense of self-pride,” Rahill said, calling the program a “win-win.”

Aycock encourages recruits to “get your hands wrapped around a python and forget about your cares and worries,” adding that some of them appear to be “withdrawn” until they get the prized python in their arms. Once that happens, Aycock says, he sees many “ear to ear” grins.

Members of Swamp Apes come from all over the country and Rahill notes women veterans are welcome as well.

A whole way of life

In addition to wrangling the snakes, many python enthusiasts have the “side hustle” of tanning python skin into hides which can be turned into belts, shoes, wallets and more. It’s something Rahill plans to do more as he gets older in his barn in Lutz, Florida.

Aycock “didn’t have time to deal with the (python) carcasses” when he was on active duty but now, he can sell them for a set amount per foot.

“I’m of the old philosophy – I don’t kill anything if I’m not going to eat it,” Aycock said. “Obviously, I’m not eating pythons (so) I kind of had to change my philosophy a little bit for this invasive species but whatever we can do to utilize that hide and make things and bring public awareness about this problem that’s down here.”

He added, “I’d be more than happy if all the pythons disappeared tomorrow. And we didn’t have to do this again and we could go concentrate on iguanas or whatever the next invasive is… But somebody’s got to do it, and we like to do it.”

As for the annual challenge, the two men will have to prepare mentally and physically. Preparation involves days spent loading up on water and focusing on hydration in advance to brave the hot Florida weather and being equipped with the proper clothing, gear, gloves and snake boots. The duo says the best time to remove pythons is in the middle of the night when the pythons are the most active.

Rahill will be there for the entirety of the competition, he said, noting the importance of promoting the Swamp Apes. But he, of course, will be a competitor and still hopes to catch plenty of snakes.

“It’s like your birthday every time you see a snake… It’s like your birthday and Hanukkah and Christmas and New Year’s and Fourth of July,” Rahill told CNN, calling the pythons “beautiful animals once you get past the fear of the snake.”

Python contractors like Rahill and Aycock pick up the cold-blooded creatures year-round, but the challenge provides a chance for their community to “get together” and “share stories” and “tips of the trade,” while still putting the ecosystem first.

Rahill hopes to catch a particular snake with a head the “size of a football” that evaded him nearly eight years ago as it raced far out into the sawgrass with Rahill on its back, costing him a pair of Oakley sunglasses.

“There’s a snake somewhere on a levee or out on a tree island wearing my Oakleys and I want them back,” Rahill said. “So, that’s the goal.”

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