Amy Siewe's Fight Against Invaders: Tackling Invasive Pythons in Florida

Hello everyone , my name is Jake Bushman and I am the host of Journey with Jake . This is the podcast that helps you overcome challenges through adventure . My guest today , amy Seewee , is on an adventure almost every day as she hunts these wild snakes in the Everglades .

From homecoming queen to real estate agent , to Python Hunter , let's see if we can get that sweet smell of success with Amy Seewee . Welcome to Journey with Jake . This is a podcast about adventure and how , through our adventures , we can overcome the challenges of life that come our way .

While I expect you will learn some things about different adventures , this show will entertain you . Each episode will feature a different guest or guest , as they share experiences and stories from the different adventures they have been on .

Not only will you be entertained , but you will also hear the failures and trials each guest faces and what they have done or are doing to overcome the hardships that come their way . My goal is to take each of us on a journey through the experiences of my guests , with the hope that you will be entertained and inspired to overcome your day to day challenges .

After all , it's not all about the destination as it is about the journey . Welcome back to another episode of Journey with Jake . We are on episode number 86 today , creeping closer and closer to triple digits . First and foremost , happy new year to each one of you 2024 . Wow , I can't believe it .

One of my resolutions is to keep bringing you fantastic guests and episodes of Journey with Jake . One way you can get more involved is following me on Instagram at Journey with Jake podcast and reaching out and saying hi , I would love to hear from you .

You're going to want to check out Instagram the next few days to see Amy and some of the snakes she has caught . Not a lot . Much better than that , in fact . Let's start this new year off right by talking to the Python hunters herself Amy Ceewee . Amy Ceewee , did I say it right ?

Can you tell us a little bit about who Amy is ?

I went to University of Slido , which actually has only 77 days of sunshine , so there was no possible way I was going to be staying there after I graduated , so I went over to Indianapolis and I got my first job and then for the last 13 years I've been a real estate broker , until I learned about the Python problem in Florida .

You kind of like to hunt for little critters and things as a kid who kind of got you into that was just something you went out there On the backyard and that you just love to do .

We didn't find the snakes very often , so when we did , it was just the coolest thing , and so I just had this crazy obsession that I never outgrew .

So so then I just wanted to get better . And I mean , I play tennis out there , I mean I have a two handed back hand and everything , but it's still fun .

So they're actually from Southeast Asia . They're here because of the pet trade in some capacity or another , and we can get into that later . Basically , there's an average or an estimate of between 100 to 300,000 of them out there , but now they're starting to think that it might be more like 500,000 .

So the problem with these pythons is that they are the apex predator and they have ratios to appetites , so they are eating all the mammals , all the birds . So in parts of the Everglades 99% of the mammals are gone because of pythons eating them . So it's a very big problem here , and so that's why the state has a program , that's why people are common .

We hunt the pythons , we actually capture them , then we euthanize them in a humane way , according to the American Veterinary Association . So that is the problem . So I do not do this . I wish there was another way . I wish I did not have to kill these things . They are so beautiful and it is not their fault . They're here . It's so unfortunate .

I've talked to people that are like , oh yeah , I let my Burmese python go 20 years ago , thanks . So the pythons get to be 20 feet long , so they hit a certain point and they get too big to house and handle and feed . So people don't want to kill their pet , but they can't handle it anymore .

So they're like , okay , well , you go live a long , happy life in the Everglades , right ? And then all of these other pythons found each other Like sweet , you know , let's make a lot more of us , and so that's one way .

The second way is that Hurricane Andrew came through in 1992 and demolished a breeding facility and it sent about 900 pythons into the same general vicinity of the Everglades , and so that's kind of the epicenter of this problem . That's where I lean far as my opinion of it .

And then the third way is that there was an exotic breeder that intentionally released a bunch of snakes in order to create a breeding population ? Probably not the intention to create this what it is . But that's what happens when you do that . So , whatever the case is , we're here .

That was never on the radar , but snakes have always been part of my world , since they're my mainly my hobby , except for in college I did some work for money , like 10 bucks an hour . So it's always been a hobby . They've always been a part of my world . But I had my career and that's how I made my money

. So then I got a call from the producers of a reality show and they said that they wanted to . They thought I would be a good fit for this , for the show about pythons in the Everglades , and I said , okay , wait . So first of all , there are pythons in the Everglades no-transcript . Clearly I didn't know that .

So why do you think that I would be good at this ? I guess there was a video of Lake Erie Water Snakes that I did for , actually , my real estate clients to show them the other side of me a long time ago , and that kind of went viral and they saw that and they thought , hey . I said first of all I'm like , yeah , sure , let's do this .

Well , it didn't work out , thankfully , because I know much more now than I did then . And all of those shows are fake , everything is staged , nothing is real , just throwing that out there . But I couldn't believe there's pythons in Florida that I can actually go catch In Ohio and Indiana .

When I go out to hunt snakes , we go out hunting snake hunting and we go and we catch them and we observe them and we think they're cool and then we let them go . We do not kill them , right ? It's always you're always looking for that big , cool snake , like the big black rat snakes that gets to be six feet long or something like that .

The thought of coming across a 20-foot python in the wild was just beyond my comprehension . I said I have got to go see what this is all about . I came down with my fiance , dave . We went . You know , we came for vacation . I went out on a python hunt with one of my friends now and she is a state contractor , donna .

So she took us out and we caught a python and I was like this is it ? I don't know how , I don't know when , I don't know what , but this is what I'm supposed to be doing . I just knew it in my heart Like I've never known anything in my life . Dave and I got back to Indy and let's see , so this is in January .

We got back and it was negative 30 degrees with the wind . I'm like okay , okay that this is kind of an easy decision . But you know , we were back for about a week and I told Dave . I said , look , I have to go to Florida . There's nothing I can do from here that will help me become a python hunter . He's like I know .

I was just wondering when you were gonna tell me .

Cause Dave couldn't come down yet , he still had his business to run and you know , I didn't want to sign a lease or bring my furniture or anything , cause I didn't know where I was gonna end up . So that's what I did .

But I didn't even know if they were gonna be hiring , because the Python program through the state was a pilot program at the time and so nobody could tell me if they were gonna hire , if the program was gonna continue or anything , you know . So I come down here , I don't know that , I don't know anybody , I don't know how to hunt pythons .

I mean , I have plenty of experience with pythons , but they're , all you know , captive , bred , you know they're not in the wild , so I don't know what their habits are . You know , I don't , I don't know anything . So I just came down here and like let's , let's figure it out .

The part that doesn't make sense , that's just unbelievable . That what you did is packing up and just going , not even knowing you rent a place from a guy you don't know . So , wow , I mean that had to take a lot of faith , a lot of bravery on your part , but you knew it was what you were going to do .

They're like , okay , this makes sense and this seems like something you totally do , but are you seriously going to do this ? Like drop your business and everything and just see if you can figure it out ? I'm like , yes , that's exactly what I'm going to do .

But the thing is , when you have something that you know that you're supposed to be doing , even though you don't know a lot about it , but you just know that this is the direction , there are no obstacles . Like put something in front of me , boom , I got it . Like it's , it's not a thing and it's really amazing how that , how that , works out .

You know , I have to tell you that . So what was going to happen ? We drove my car down because obviously I had a car , we had my stuff in it . We're going to drop my stuff off at my new house , meet die , just make sure I didn't get , you know , creeper vibes or anything .

And then Dave and I were going to go to a resort for the weekend and then after that he was going to fly back to Indy and I was going to go to my new home . So , four hours away , this guy calls me and he says hey , listen , the room that you were going to rent is actually the guy's going to stay there for six more months .

I said , dude , I am four hours from your house with my stuff . What am I supposed to do ? And he said well , I mean , I have an extra room upstairs , but you're going to have to share a bathroom with my dad . I was like I'm sorry , what ? Yeah , so I was going oh my God , I cannot believe I'm doing this right now , but it all worked out .

We met him . He was super nice , the family was awesome , it was a huge house , there were five bathrooms , so I got my own bathroom anyway . It just it worked out at that moment , as soon as I hung up with him . That was the only time since I got back from vacation that I had a oh shit moment .

It's like in the span of about 10 seconds , like my whole life , I'm like what the hell did I just do ? Oh my God , my business . Oh my God , I don't know where I'm going , I don't know what I'm doing , I don't know anybody . So this goes like 10 minutes . Then all of a sudden I'm like , chill out , you got this , you'll figure it out .

And then that was the only freak out moment I had .

You don't know if the state's hiring because I'm guessing the state has contractors that do this that you hire by . Kind of explain how did that , so how did you figure this out ? And kind of keep telling your story , if you don't mind .

I'd say , hey , like , go to the national parks and go into the visitor center and say , hey , I'm trying to become a Python hunter , what do I have to do ? They'd say , you know , you need to talk to this person . I don't know , but go talk to this person .

So I just kept networking and asking and talking to people and you know , I made my way through a lot . I mean , I , for a very short period of time , I made my way up pretty high on the totem pole with , you know , some of these people . When I first got there , there were 25 people that the state had hired .

And then in July so I get there in March in July they opened the hiring again , so they were going to hire 25 more people . So I was part of that hiring spree . So then it was official . I was , I worked for the state .

But the thing is about this is that you know it was it's still kind of new , but it was so new then Nobody really knew how to catch them , what their behaviors were , where to go , you know . So it was kind of this learning experience for everybody .

So me going out there in the beginning , you know I was going out at night in the winter , like in March , and that's like a terrible time to go because you know , now I know better but you know wasting my time doing that or you know , going out during the day in May when it was super hot . You know they're not really moving at that point .

So there was a lot that we all had to learn about these pythons and we're still learning . I mean , we don't know , you know nearly enough to make us effective to handle this problem , but so , yeah , so that's what I did . I just networked and I went exploring .

You know , I don't know , because especially if they're not sure how it's going to work , I would think it wouldn't be super great .

So , yeah , nobody's getting rich catching pythons for the state , that's for sure .

your experiences , what you kind of learned , and then maybe some of your stories of some of the snakes that you've been able to hunt .

First of all , it took me six weeks to catch my first python because I thought when I came down here I was going to be tromping through the swamp and slinging these things out of the Just pulling them out left and right , just like stepping on them , like you can't step , you know , oh no , oh no , it is not like that at all .

I mean , they're everywhere and nowhere , and trying to figure that out is the tough part , but anyway . So I didn't catch any for the first six weeks . So I'm driving down the main road , I'm in my flip flops and , like my workout clothes , and there's a python . I was like , oh my God , it's a python . So I go out .

So it's at night , though , and I'm in my Camry Like I have a Camry that I'm hunting out of . It's so silly when I look back on it and I didn't have any flashlights on me . So I flip a U in this random driveway . That's there . I mean like drive , it's on highway 41 . So I can have the light , so I can see the snake .

There's a car coming , so I get out and I'm in the middle of 41 , like flagging them down , saying stop , and I still again , I look back at all of this I'm like I'm such an idiot I can't believe I did some of this stuff . The car stops .

It was a van full of like a bunch of workers , right , they slow down and they're kind of going around me a little bit . But I'm , I grabbed the snake like kind of by the tail , and then I like wait for it , because you know I've done this kind of thing before and you know , then I grab its head and I'm holding this thing .

I'm like I just got my first python , you know . And so the guys they kind of circle back around and they're all hanging out the window clapping for me . It was so awesome , it was like the best first python I could ever catch . And the cool thing about that is that I took it to my one of the guys who I had met . He's pretty high up .

He is one of the owners of one of the sanctuaries here . I said it's so sad that we have to kill these . I really wish we didn't have to kill him . He said you know , we might not have to .

I said OK , and he said I think you know the sanctuary is looking for another python because theirs is like 15 feet and it's too hard to transport , to handle , you know , for educational programs . So maybe we can use this one because it's only 10 feet . And I said yes , let's do that . So I named him Bob and now Bob is at the sanctuary .

So that's kind of a cool thing . I'm very happy that we can save a life , you know .

So sometimes they periscope , so they'll they'll come to like a tree line and they'll lift up about two to three feet off the ground and you can see their white bellies . Ok , and it's a dead giveaway if you know what you're looking for , but a lot of people don't know to look for that .

And so I see this python periscoping and I have no concept of size yet you know , like I don't know how to gauge that based on periscoping . And so I thought , oh , this is awesome , I'm going to get you know a snake , and to this point I probably 11 or 12 feet is the most that I the longest I caught .

I see this thing and I'm like , awesome , I get up to it . I'm like , oh my God , it was huge , it was like a 16 foot python . I don't even know what to do with this thing .

So , because you know , usually you grab the head , then you grab the tail and you know you do what you do whatever , but this I her neck was so thick that I couldn't just use one hand , I needed two hands . But then there's a whole rest of her body and then it's like , how am I going to get her into the back ?

And I don't think I haven't been big enough for this snake .

So she starts getting you know , kind of ticked and so she , you know , starts to take off and I have no choice but to let her go . And it was awful because it was such a big snake and I was like , all right , that is never happening to me again . So I know I'm going to be hunting alone again .

I know I'm probably going to come across a python like that . How do I prevent this from happening ? So in the vet business and the pet store , you know , we used to calm down an animal by putting a dark cloth over its eyes and it would calm it down . And I thought , huh , what if that would work for a snake ?

I wonder if I could throw a blanket over it . I'm like , yeah , that's probably not going to work . And then I saw on my closet was hanging this little bag , this , you know , six by six drawstring black bag , and I thought , huh , I wonder if I could put that over its head , if that would calm it down .

I had caught in the meantime like a couple like a 12 and 13 footer , and I had him in my backyard . This is before , like now we have to kill them on the spot , but this was before . We had like five days before we had to kill them and turn them into the state . Well , plus , I think I was driving them all the way across the state .

Anyway , I go in the backyard and I practice with my head bag and it worked like a charm . I have these snakes that are super mad and they're hissing , and so I grab them and I , you know , put the bag over their head and they just stopped and I'm like whoa , I got it , I got it Right . So now , so that was what I said . It was September of 2019 .

Okay , so now I'm carrying this head bag every single time I go out right , and I hump by myself a lot . So , in July of 2021 , going along the same road , 41 in my truck by myself , and I see a periscoper . I passed it and then I thought , wait , what was that ?

Because they just cut the grass , so her belly was covered in grass , so it didn't really look like Python . So I back up and I could see that her profile and I'm like that's Python . Still don't really know how to gauge that , how big that actually is .

I pull like the truck all the way around because I didn't want to scare , and I get out and this takes me like 30 seconds . Right , she goes down in the meantime . She's 17 feet , I know where she is and I can't find her right away . That is how absolutely camouflaged these things are .

And she's right by the road and I'm looking and I should send you a picture of what I actually saw . It was like this much of a hue of blue from her skin that I saw through the grass .

I followed that up a couple feet and I saw her head and I was like , oh my God , it was the biggest head that I've ever seen in my life and I was like looking at my little head bag and looking at her and I'm like , oh , my God Looking to fit . Yeah , am I insane ? What am I doing ?

But you can't hesitate with these things , because as soon as you hesitate , they take off . So I have this head bag , I click my little GoPro on and I jump on her and I was like , all right , this is happening . And so I couldn't see her body .

Her body was buried in the swamp and so I'm on top of her , straddling her with my hands , right up to her jaws . She was trying to shimmy back into the swamp , so I had my arms locked out and I was literally using all of my lower body strength . I was squatting her up to keep her from going back into the swamp .

And they are so strong I don't want her to be able to come up . I don't want her to open her mouth because I don't want her to get leveraged . So I'm trying to keep her down , but I'm also trying to get this head bag on her . I mean it was just and it's on a video , it's on the video and it's just crazy .

But as soon as I got that on and it was a good fight it was probably like seven or eight , and that was . I mean you talk about squatting straight for seven or eight minutes . That's a lot . And so I got the head bag on and she just stopped . She just stopped and I was like , oh , thank God , oh , thank God .

So I'm there , it's like midnight , you know , I'm in , you know 41 kind of dips down a little bit . So I'm in this ditch sitting on top of this giant Python that I don't even know how big it is Because I can't see the whole thing Like okay , what do I like ? I got to pull this thing out now . Well , I was getting

ready to pull it out and then my some of my other hunter friends go by , so I yelled out at them and they back up and they're like , what are you doing ? I said I'm sitting on a Python , come help me . And they're like why ? I'm like you'll see . And they get down there like holy whoa , that's a biggest Python .

So that one was 17 , three , she was 110 pounds and I caught her by myself and that's . And again I look at that , I'm like , holy crap , that's kind of a cool thing that I did , because it's I've caught a lot of big ones since then and it's not easy .

But actually hang on , because I have a skull right here . I know I don't think your people can see this , but I'm going to show you .

I've been bitten like on the calf , on the arm , you know , not in the face I had . You know I don't like that because if you get one of those teeth in your eyeball , oh yeah , your eyeball is gone . Yeah , that's not Wow .

They pretty much every time musk us . It's not like a skunk or anything , anything like that . I mean it's not pleasant , but we call it the smell of success , because if you smell like that at the end of the night , then you know it was a good night . But yeah , I have had it in my mouth before and it's not fun .

Yeah , because they'll like wrap sometimes . I mean , sometimes you get these pythons that are just super chill and you pick them up and they're kind of like , yeah , okay , you got me right , and then you have some that I mean it is like bloody hell , murder , and they are whipping around and you know , doing all kinds of stuff .

And so I had one , that kind of like , wrapped around my neck a little bit , then went over my face , like in my mouth , and I was like , oh my God , it was so bad , it was so gross . So I don't recommend that either .

So you catch them , you know , right behind the jaw the head bag works great , you know , for a solo catch . And then now I also use tape .

So when I'm with somebody else , especially when I'm with people that I'm guiding and they don't they've never been around a Python before you know we tape their mouth just like a gator , just to take the bite out of the equation on the big ones not the little ones , but the big ones just to make it a little safer and easier to capture them .

So now a lot of people , actually a lot of the contractors , carry electrical tape . You know just , you know what happened . So there's a lot of things , a lot of tricks that you know we've learned . And I know that I can't . You know , I think everybody in the world knows my measurement . So I'm five , four , 120 pounds .

You know , I know that I can't overpower an 18 foot Python . I mean , like that 17 footer was just so lucky . I mean there were a lot of things going my way that day , but you know I've been wrapped up before , I've been , you know , and you know there's been people that you know help get it off and everything like that .

We didn't really know what to do in the beginning and now we've got all these like ways to do it . But you have to be smarter than the Python . You know even the guys , even the guys . You know these are huge snakes and they're super powerful .

And so , and there's , I think every , every single hunter has a the one that got away story , you know , and it's almost always when they were by themselves .

So , if you think about it , when a when a snake , when a Python bites its prey , so it bites its prey and then it wraps with the first third of its body , right , and so we actually call that throwing the elbow they don't wrap with their tail first , they wrap with that first third and then it , you know , goes all the way down .

So if we can keep that first coil from coming over us , then we're in pretty good shape . So that's what I'll do . I'll try to keep that coil . You know , if it's a bigger snake , I'll kind of like grab it between my like I have the snake with my hands , and then I'll probably grab like a little ways down with my knees , just so it can't coil up .

But yeah , so if we can do that , we're in pretty good shape .

You know dusk , and we get back at two or three in the morning , sometimes later , and it's because you know , all the mamas are coming off their nests , all the babies are hatching , it's like still 85 degrees at night , so everybody's moving and eating and shaking and all that . So it's just , it's the best time to get them . Now we're coming up .

We just finished that . So I did my last night hunt for the season last week . So now we're getting ready to do the day hunts and now it's their breeding season . So their breeding season is December through March . So they're off in the woods , far back in the woods , and they're breeding aggregations of like one female and maybe five or six males .

So we actually take a boat , our boat , to the islands on the canals and we go jungle busting and we just go island to island looking for these pythons because we know they're breeding there . That's fun , that's physical .

You know you can't be bruised or bloody by the end of it because it's not easy terrain , but man , it's pretty cool when you see those pythons .

you know , python hunts now I don't work for the state anymore , you know and people this is a pretty popular thing . People want to do it and they want to learn how to do it , so but it's so much fun .

And then in the winter I don't go as much because it really it's a lot more weather dependent , but it's still probably , you know , and I'm I'm booking a lot actually right now , so it'll probably end up being like three or four times a week .

So I'm like , okay , well , I got to make money . Now I take people out and the cool thing is that I teach them how to do this so the public can hunt pythons . Okay , so anyone can hunt pythons . You don't need a license , you don't need any certification . The only thing is you have to kill them on the spot .

You cannot transport a live Python , you know . Trying to prevent more of this problem from happening , I suppose I get people I get all kinds of people that want to go .

I get people that live in Florida , that live right around here , that have gone five or six times and haven't caught a Python and they want to learn how to do it , where to look , what they're looking for . I get people that are , you know , from out of the country , that heard about this and said , oh my gosh , I want to just come and do this .

I get accomplished hunters that have gone all over Africa and the world hunting big game and they come here and you know they put a Python in their trophy room , you know . So I had a family that didn't go , or they chose Python hunting with me over Disney World , I mean , it's all kinds .

And I think the big thing that people need to understand this is a different kind of hunting than any hunting in the world . We don't use firearms because we have to get them in the brain . If you don't get them in the brain , they're fine . So we live capture and then we euthanize and I have a bolt gun that I use .

So this is the only type of hunting that you it's hands on , like you are jumping and you're getting those pythons . And so I give my clients every opportunity . If they want to , like I go over how to do it and all of that , but if they want to catch Python , now I have a lot of people and like , well , here's the Python .

And they're like , uh , okay , yeah , you do this one .

I had a lot of people that thought you know , if they don't get , if they don't catch this Python , then it's going to get away and like all the pressures on them because , you know , like a guide for deer hunting , the guide puts you on the deer and then if you miss , you miss . It is what it is right . Well , not here .

I will always catch the Python , always , no matter what . So there's no pressure on them to feel like they have to catch this Python . And even if they go for it and they like , hesitate or miss or whatever , I got it , no problem .

Yeah , it's an experience like no one's ever had in their life .

And the one girl I was , just actually recently , she , it was a 10 footer , she was in high school . She went to grab it . I'm like , oh , choke up , choke up , and she grabbed it and it bitter , you know .

And she , she choked up and she was like I got it , didn't even phase her , and so it's a super cool like bloody hand picture with the snake in it yeah . Kind of cool , you know . So I mean it happens , but not very often .

And you know people , actually in the winter I provide leather gloves because we're walking through all the brush and everything and I don't you know . It prevents your hands from getting all scarred up . So it's just , it's extra protection when you go to grab the snake .

That is their territory , and most of it is inaccessible to humans . That's why , in the summer , we have to . We drive the roads , because we have to wait for them to come to us . They're going from the swamps into the canal and so they cross the road , and so that's when we're catching them .

But if you just go through the Trump , through the swamp , you'll never see one Like they're just two , they just disappear , they just blend .

And he's sitting there for like five minutes and then all of a sudden in focus comes a python that has been 16 footer . That had been sitting there like maybe six yards from him the whole time , but he just didn't see it . Like that's how these guys are and they don't take off .

When you approach , they don't look at us as prayer predators or just like we're in annoyance . They're like why are you standing over me ? So they don't give any indication that they're even there . So that is the biggest challenge I think you know . As far as money , I think is a challenge Trying to figure out how to make it .

We're doing this because the state , really you know they frown upon commercializing this and so that's kind of been a challenge for me . The skins that's a whole nother story , but that was , you know , trying to figure out how to supplement my income . When I was a state contractor , thinking that the skins were going to be a , I went into way more debt .

It's cool because you know like I make some cool stuff with them , but it's not really a sustainable business , which is a podcast for another day . And I think maybe where you were going was , as far as you know , like I'm a girl and a guy's type of you know world , I guess , right now , and it's not really like that in the Python world .

You know it's not really like gender , it's like gender neutral , and this is probably , using that term completely wrong , but it's it doesn't matter if you're a man or a woman , if you are good at it , if you love it . You know like , wait , let's do it . You know the guys like the 19 footer that was caught .

So I was , I rolled up on them , like if I was 45 seconds earlier , that 19 footer would have been mine . But these kids and I know the one guy , jake , he's there , he's awesome , but they're like from you know , go to Ohio State . So the I pull up and I see him like struggling with a snake and I was like hey , do you guys need some help ?

And Jake's like Amy , oh my god , I know you have tape , I left mine in the truck . So I go over and I help him and I get this all situated . It doesn't matter if you're a man or a woman .

So he was going back and forth but when he would be here he'd drive for me so I could spot along the roads and he's like , yeah , that's cool , you do , I'm not touching these things . And then we came across a 14 and a half footer . I'm like , oh babe , I'm going to need your help with this one , so get over it .

So we jump on this thing , and this is kind of in the beginning , so I didn't have all my tricks down yet . She kicked our butts all over the place . Oh my God , it was , it was a , it was a battle .

And by the end of it , like I'm laying on top of the Python , he's like leaning against a tree , we're like huffing and puffing , and he was like All right , this is kind of cool , I can get into this .

But you know , I love the guiding . I really do , because I get to teach people how to do this and they're such an appreciation People really love learning about this . So I don't know , but it's going to be . I mean , pythons are are in my foreseeable future for sure , not sure at what capacity .

And the reason is because I want to talk to people about it before , to let them know what to be prepared for , because , especially in the winter , it's pretty physical and you don't have to be in awesome shape by any means , but it's . It's a lot more than just sitting in the back of a truck , you know .

So I just like to talk to people about what to expect , about how this is going to go down and everything , so they're fully prepared . And then what they'll do is send me a 50% deposit you know Venmo or PayPal or something , and then that'll hold their spot and then we'll go hunting .

So what do you have to say to anybody who's thinking about either getting into this or just kind of any career and having that leap of faith , like you had to just go to Florida ? What is kind of your last minute thoughts on that ?

is amazing and I don't . I don't work , you know . I mean , I know people say that , but I don't work . This is what I would be doing anyway , you know . So it's , it's amazing and trust yourself , You'll figure it out .

She's out there doing some great work in Florida and I'm super happy that I was able to chat with her and have her on the show . Wow , that was fascinating . What a way to start off the year . Thanks to each and every one of you for tuning in each and every week and listening to Journey with Jake .

We're going to have some fantastic episodes coming up this year . I'm so excited for what's to come . Thank you , thank you . Thank you for all your support . I would love it if you'd give me a follow on Instagram at Journey with Jake podcast , or leave me a rating and review on Apple podcast or every listening podcast .

That would mean the world to me and I would very much appreciate it . Just remember , it's not always about the destination as it is about the journey . Take care , everybody .