On the Front Lines of Florida's Fight Against Pythons

Donna Kalil is head python elimination specialist in the Everglades. After capturing and euthanizing more than 650 of the invasive snakes, many more remain a threat to the ecosystem.

By Sara Novak
Aug 17, 2022 1:00 PMAug 18, 2022 6:46 PM
Burmese python
(Credit: Heiko Kiera/Shutterstock)

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Darkness has descended over Everglades National Park. Donna Kalil and her team are driving back and forth across levies and access roads in her Ford Expedition, shining spotlights towards the roads in the hopes of spotting a python that’s left cover.

Sometimes they’ll drive hours, or even days, before seeing a snake shoot across the road, camouflaged in its natural brown and pea-green patterns. When the team finds their target, they’ll sneak up and grab it close enough to the back of the head to avoid being bitten. At night the pythons are hunting so they’re less likely to realize what’s going on. Invested in their own search for prey, they don’t even realize they are the invasive prey.

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