2026 Florida Python Challenge starts today
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The 2026 Florida Python Challenge began Friday, giving participants 10 days to search for invasive Burmese pythons and compete for a share of $25,000 in prizes.
The Cool Down on MSN
Florida woman catches 60 pythons in 10 days, becomes challenge's first female winner
"There were a lot of little baby snakes just getting out of the nest."
Registration for the 2026 Florida Python Challenge is officially underway, as participants have the chance to take part in a 10-day competition to win a grand prize. The competition takes place from Friday, July 10, until 5 p.m. Tuesday, July 19.
Researchers captured 177 invasive Burmese pythons and removed more than 4,100 eggs during a single breeding season in Southwest Florida.
The Cool Down on MSN
Florida hunter lands one of the state's biggest pythons, a 202-pound female carrying 200 eggs
Catches like this can be a massive win toward slowing the spread of a problematic invasive species.
What began as a family outing to help remove invasive snakes from Florida's Everglades quickly turned into a terrifying fight for survival. Carl Jackson believed he had spotted a Burmese python measuring about 12 feet as it crossed a dirt road in Big Cypress National Preserve.
