During the most recent nesting season in the Everglades, python hunters with TheCritterCult said in their video that they prevented 431 invasive Burmese python eggs from hatching.
"They are spectacular animals, but unfortunately, they eat tons of our native wildlife," they said.
In a region where the scale of the problem can feel overwhelming, 431 is a significant breakthrough.
The greater Everglades ecosystem covers more than 10,000 square miles, which makes locating and removing the giant snakes one by one an enormous challenge.
TheCritterCult team uses a targeted approach to locate and remove these invasive pythons from the Everglades. It explained that large reproductive females are easiest to target because of their nesting behaviors.
"During this past nesting season, we focused on searching the habitats that have the highest chances of having nests," one team member said.
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Female pythons stay with a nest and protect the eggs until hatching. That gives removal crews a rare opportunity to prevent dozens of hatchlings from entering the ecosystem and remove a large breeding female.
That targeted approach appears to be working.
In one example shown in the video, the group removed a 16-foot, 7-inch female weighing 92 pounds along with a clutch of 58 eggs. In another, it found a 13-foot, 7-inch female with 39 eggs.
That matters because Burmese pythons are among Florida's most destructive invasive species. Fewer hatchlings means less pressure on birds, reptiles, and mammals that belong in the habitat, which is good news for the overall health of one of the country's most important wetlands.
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A healthier Everglades benefits people, too. The area supports recreation, tourism, and local economies across South Florida, and protecting native biodiversity helps preserve the natural landscape that residents and visitors depend on.
More effective python removal can also help wildlife managers use time and resources more efficiently by targeting the stage of the snake's life cycle where intervention delivers the biggest payoff.
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