By ZAK BENNET IN EVERGLADES, FLA. FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
Beneath the dark canopy of Florida‘s Everglades with only stars in sight, Daily Mail got an exclusive look at one of Florida’s peculiar new tourist attractions: the high–stakes, high–end world of python hunting.
At the center of it is Amy Siewe, a former luxury real estate broker who traded listings for swamp boots and snakes — and now leads elite eco–tourism hunts capturing one of Florida’s most destructive invasive species.
‘I wasn’t looking for another career,’ Siewe told The Daily Mail during a July night hunt. ‘But once I realized there was a python problem in Florida, I thought, ‘Wait a minute — this obsession I’ve had with snakes my whole life could actually help solve an ecological crisis.’
That crisis is Burmese pythons. Believed to have been introduced via the exotic pet trade in the last 30 years, they’ve exploded in population across South Florida, willing to kill any native wildlife or pets they come across.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), species like raccoons, opossums, bobcats — and even deer — have seen dramatic declines.
‘We find deer hooves in the stomachs of almost every python we catch that are over 16 feet,’ Siewe said. ‘They are eating full grown deer. It’s horrific.’
Last month in an attempt to combat the python problem scientists from the University of Florida let an army of remote–controlled robotic bunnies loose in the hope of monitoring python patterns.
But Siewe doesn’t need to use robotics — she has her hands — and now runs a wildly popular python hunting tour business, charging $1,800 for up to four people and $300 for each additional person per night.
Amy Siewe is a real life Indiana Jones heading out on python hunts at night
Siewe now runs a wildly popular python hunting tour business, charging $1,800 for up to four people and $300 for each additional person per night
Tourists like Jim Gillenwater from Indiana joined Siewe in the swamp the night Daily Mail was there, experiencing the thrill of the hunt firsthand
Her clients are seeking both adrenaline and a way to help Florida’s ecological future. But this isn’t just thrill–seeking — it’s conservation.
‘This guided hunt is both a thrill and a mission,’ she explained. ‘It’s amazing to catch a python, but it’s even more powerful knowing you’re saving native animals.’
Our night with Siewe offered a rare glimpse into her operation. Aboard her custom ‘snake deck’ truck, outfitted with custom decals reading ‘Python Huntress’, several flood lights and handheld spotlights, we drove through the Everglades, which spans 1.5 million acres, under nothing but moonlight and stars.
The tour did pass by Alligator Alcatraz, which does light up a section of the forest, but Amy said it has not affected her hunting. Her hunting locations are confidential, and her methods are honed from years of experience.
That night, she stalked a 16–foot serpent — just three feet shy of the world record —and marked her 700th python capture.
Siewe’s largest capture to date measured 17 feet, 3 inches.
‘There have been 17–footers that take four people to get,’ she said. ‘I caught mine by myself… she was 110 pounds. I am very proud of that.’
Tourists like Jim Gillenwater from Indiana joined Siewe in the swamp the night Daily Mail was there, experiencing the thrill of the hunt firsthand.
Siewe used to work for the state’s Python Elimination Program before starting her own tour company
Siewe’s clients are seeking both adrenaline and a way to help Florida’s ecological future
Siewe’s unconventional work is possibly the best hope to keep python numbers at bay
A file photo of a 115–lb female python engulfing a 77–lb full–sized white–tailed deer in Naples
In an attempt to combat the python problem within the Everglades, scientists let an army of remote–controlled robotic bunnies loose in July
‘When you’re in the middle of the everglades in the summer months, and when we were wrestling the big snake, the bugs were all over us,’ Gillenwater said.
‘You gotta put in the work and be able to deal with the variables to get the best trophy.’
‘It was everything I ever dreamed of,’ Gillenwater said. ‘It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever hunted because they’re so illusive. I cannot remember more fun than I’ve had in the last two days [following the hunt] just showing photos of the snake I caught.’
Siewe formerly worked for the state’s Python Elimination Program, which pays licensed hunters to remove pythons.
Now she hunts for herself, her tours, and she also collaborates with researchers to learn more about the behaviors and habits of the pythons.
‘It’s not the python’s fault they’re here,’ Siewe acknowledged. ‘They’re just being pythons. But they have to go. Our mammals are disappearing at an alarming rate.’
‘It takes a python three years to get to be 10 feet,’ she said, ‘and it takes 200 animals to get it there. Every single python we take out of the Everglades is saving hundreds of lives.’
Florida officials estimate there may be up to 500,000 pythons in the wild. While total eradication may be out of reach, Siewe believes every hunt is the best thing that can be done at the moment.
Florida officials estimate there may be up to 500,000 pythons in the wild. One of the huge beasts Siewe caught
A 16–foot serpent — just three feet shy of the world record —was captured on the night hunt Daily Mail went on
‘We might just be prolonging the extinction of our native animals,’ she said, ‘but if we can do that long enough for scientists to develop better solutions, then it’s absolutely worth it.
‘What drives me to keep going night after night, chasing snakes through the swamp? Well, first of all, it’s totally my calling. It is the most amazing adventure and the most fun I’ve ever had in my entire life.’
The Florida Everglades have long faced the python invasion, but fears of mass extinctions have become an ever–growing threat to the local animal populations.
Ian Bartoszek, one of three authors of a study with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, said: ‘The impact the Burmese python is having on native wildlife cannot be denied. This is a wildlife issue of our time for the Greater Everglades ecosystem.’
Researchers from the University of Florida released 40 of the fake toy fluffy rabbits, fit with motors, a smell designed to attract pythons, and tiny heaters to mimic the beasts prey in July.
The goal is to monitor python patterns and movements in order to alert officials to their presence, before a snake wrangler is sent out to euthanize the snake.
