- Amy Siwe participated in the 2019 Florida Python Challenge and changed her life.
- She moved to Florida from Indiana and now runs a guide service that takes people on python hunts.
- She said she is living her best life despite the occasional python bite.
This essay is based on a conversation with a python hunter Amy Sieve. Edited for length and clarity.
During college, I worked in various jobs in the pet and reptile industry, including snake breeding and working part-time at an exotic pet store. After graduating from college, he started his career as a real estate broker in Indiana, and working with snakes became something of a hobby for him.
After my first python hunt in Florida in 2019, I knew I had found my calling. I quit my job and moved to Naples, Florida to become a contract python hunter.
Why I hunt pythons
My interest in snakes began at an early age. His father took me to the stream and taught me how to catch all kinds of creatures, including snakes.
Sometimes I wonder why I never developed a passion for kittens and puppies or something a little more “normal”, but I guess I was just born to love snakes.
By hunting pythons, I am using my passion for snakes to contribute to the world. People don’t always understand why I hunt pythons when I love snakes. But I am not afraid of pythons because I am interested in them.
The Burmese python is native to Southeast Asia, alien species of Florida.
In 1992, Hurricane Andrew destroyed a python breeding facility, sending about 900 pythons into the same general Everglades area. People who bought Burmese pythons as pets and then let them go when they became too big to feed, care for or handle also contribute to the problem.
This giant reptile is Florida’s apex predator and has a voracious appetite.
that’s why you will some animals are no longer seen, in certain areas of the Everglades, including rabbits, foxes, raccoons and opossums. Burmese pythons are also less picky, so they will also eat birds and other animals, especially as their primary food source dwindles.
It’s not their fault they’re here and I absolutely hate having to kill them. But to save the Everglades they have to go.
From real estate to python hunting
Real estate is a well-established industry with processes and systems in place to follow, and with the right commitment, success can be achieved over time.
As a python hunter and guide, I bring my love of snakes and desire for adventure to my hunts and my entrepreneurial spirit to my business. Every day there is something new and I grow with that challenge. I know I’m living my best life.
Now I’m spending time in the swamps, catching this elusive snake as it roams. They don’t like exposure and spend most of their time motionless, so they’re not easy to spot.
When they move, they tend to move under vegetation and their colors perfectly camouflage to match their environment.
A 17-foot-long python hides here.
Amy Sieve
Summer is hot, so we have to hunt at night. We set off in a truck equipped with a ‘snake deck’ (platform fitted with lights to look out to the sides) and drive very slowly down the road, peering through canals and grass looking for pythons.
Sometimes it’s within the forest line, sometimes it’s parallel to the road, sometimes it’s across it. Because they are so large, they usually move quite slowly. And they often see us as a nuisance rather than a predator or prey. However, when they are frightened and want to go, they move very quickly, making capture even more difficult.
Get on the truck and hunt.
Amy Sieve
Python hunting is not without risks
While I started as State contract python hunterI now own Guide service and take people on a python hunt. I love this because I get to go out into the Everglades with people who have never been out before.
I will explain all the laws in place to hunt pythons humanely, teach you how to find and catch pythons, and teach you the proper way to euthanize pythons.
I capture pythons alive and use a captive bolt gun to euthanize them. The American Veterinary Medical Association has approved this method as a humane method of euthanasia for Burmese pythons.
Although pythons are not venomous, they are incredibly strong and powerful animals. Coils can be a little tricky to avoid, but catching one over 15 feet in length is definitely dangerous.
My personal record: I caught myself a 17ft 3in python weighing 110lbs
Amy Sieve
They also have mouths full of razor-sharp teeth. I have been bitten many times and I can tell you that the bites are not pleasant. They bleed a lot.
Plus, there’s always the chance of encountering an alligator, leopard, bear, or even a venomous snake. However, these animals tend to stay away from humans.
The bite of a python.
Amy Sieve
How I Respect the Python I Hunt
I want to use as many pythons as possible, but the meat is so chewy that I can’t eat much of it. full of mercury.
But their skin is beautiful and they make beautiful leather goods. This means that even if you don’t get to be part of the Everglades’ natural world, its beauty lives on.i am a pioneer Invasive Python Leather Industry I’m one of about 10 people who actually skin a python and professionally tan it into a finished product.
All registered and ready for our annual event Florida Python Challenge, that too. This year will be my fourth time attending her. He placed second in the 2020 “Heaviest Python” challenge.