A South Florida teen captured 28 Burmese pythons during a 10-day contest, a competition that was created to increase awareness about the threats these invasive snakes pose to the ecology of the state.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission issued a news release, saying Matthew Concepcion was among the 1,000 people who participated in the annual challenge from 32 states, Latvia and Canada. The participants removed 231 of the unwanted pythons, according to Fox Weather.
Concepcion was awarded the $10,000 Ultimate Grand Prize for his efforts. The cash prize was courtesy of the Bergeron Everglades Foundation. Dustin Crum managed to take home the $1,500 grand prize for removing the longest python in the event. The snake that he captured was measured at just over 11 feet.
Concepcion hunting pythons for half a decade now
A team of biologists earlier this year captured the heaviest Burmese python ever hauled in Florida. According to the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, the female python that the biologists captured weighed in at 215 pounds. The snake was measured at nearly 18 feet long and had 122 developing eggs at the time of capture.
Burmese pythons are not protected except by the anti-cruelty law in Florida, so participants in the event had to document that each snake was killed humanely.
Concepcion said in an interview with the South Florida Sun Sentinel that he has been hunting pythons for about five years now. He said that he typically looks for them at night because that is when they are on the move, with the pythons seeking the warmth of the roads. He uses the lights of his vehicle to spot the snakes.
Concepcion, however, only spotted one python on the roads in the Everglades this year. He decided to change strategies and it paid dividends for him. He said that he worked a levee and he caught a couple hatchings. He thought this might be the ticket so he went out there every single night from then on, staying there just before sundown to sunup.
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Concepcion plans to buy powerful lighting setup to spot more snakes
Concepcion said he walked the canal and used a flashlight to probe the underbrush. He told the paper that smaller snakes are so well camouflaged. He has to look for the shadows they cast by the flashlight beam. Larger snakes, however, are easier to find, according to Concepcion as they have a slightly purple tint to them and they are really beautiful.
The 19-year-old said he may use some of the money he won to buy a powerful lighting setup for his truck, which will help him spot even more snakes, NBC News reported.
"Alligator Ron" Bergeron, who is the Governing Board Member of the South Florida Water Management District, said in a news release that their python hunters are passionate about what they do and they care very much about Florida's precious environment. He added that they are removing record numbers of pythons and they are going to keep at it.
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