Python Hunting with Amy Siewe and Anne Gordon-Vega

Yasss, pythons. Not a typo. This week on the podcast, we hear about how Amy Siewe went from snake lover to snake hunter -- and how her hunting pal Anne Gordon-Vega also became a python contractor. Pythons aren't native to Florida, and they wreak havoc on native ecosystems. So... when you find a 17-foot python big enough to swallow a deer, in the middle of the night, and you're alone... how DO you handle that? 3:30 Badass python-hunters are grandmas, too!  5:00 Life transition: Going from being a real estate broker in Indiana to a Florida python hunter 7:00 A brief history of pythons in Florida... a non-native, apex predator 9:30 "In the southern part of the state we've lost over 90% of all mammals." It's shocking. No opossums, no raccoons, no marsh rabbits.  12:00 Miami, drugs & exotic pets 14:00 Pythons are VERY difficult to find in the wild 15:00 What eats baby pythons? Plus, python breeding 17:00 Two python facts: They're the only snake that sits a nest, and the "babies" are 18-24 inches when they're born. (AH!) 18:00 When a python regurgitates the last four things it ate... 23:00 The contractor program in Florida - Florida Wildlife Commission; South Florida Water Management District 26:00 The python-hunting version of a Florida family vacay 30:00 Meeting your first deer-eater sized python at 2 a.m., laying over its body so it doesn't wrap you, and wrestling it into a bag 34:00 Snake-bagging 101 37:00 Catching a python on your ebike 40:00 Team-tagging pythons at night in dark, dark swamp water  43:00 Wrangling a 17-footer, with a timely assist from passing hunters 48:00 Python hunting is actually not much like how it's portrayed on reality TV 51:00 BSwanky handbag line from Florida pythons 52:00 Amy is a full-time python-hunter... and she also saves the skins for her own line of product. Find her online, Python Huntress 53:00 What does it PAY to be a python contractor? It's not about the money... "I do it out of love (for the Everglades), and -- I'll admit it -- adrenaline." 54:00 Python hunting is a night-time thing... outsiders can totally try it on vacation, but start by paying attention to the rules: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission 55:00 The Florida Python Challenge - cash prizes! ATVs! Reptile stuff!  56:00 Are we putting a meaningful dent in the python problem?  58:00 Snake-tracking hound dogs 59:00 Find @PythonHunter_Amy on Insta, or PythonHuntress.com for those snake skin goods we mentioned; Find Anne on the FWC Python Contractor FB page 1:04 Turkey hunting! It's ON. (Dinner Island Ranch, where working cattle land meets public lands) 1:06 When mom makes you a snake bag for the record-breaker on the horizon... <3 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices