In South Florida, a number of women are working to turn the Everglades' Burmese python problem into a sustainable business idea: using skins from the invasive snakes to make luxury handbags.
Here's what to know
Professional python hunter Amy Siewe spends nights in the Everglades searching for the animals. As recently reported by WSVN, the "Python Huntress" has caught about 800 pythons in about eight years.
There appears to be disagreement over how the introduced species gained a foothold in Florida. According to the local outlet, some people attribute it to released pets, while others say 1992's Hurricane Andrew struck a breeding facility and the snakes wound up in the swamps.
"At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter how it happened," Siewe told WSVN. "We've got this problem. We've got pythons that are eating 98% of the mammals in parts of the Everglades, and they are not slowing down."
Burmese pythons prey on local wildlife, disrupting food webs and whole ecosystems. They were added to Florida's prohibited species list in 2021. The animals are, however, protected by anti-cruelty laws and must be killed humanely on private property and with landowner permission.
The snakes Siewe removes are now part of a partnership with handbag company GG Maull. Owner Gretchen Maull Berger is using the skins to create luxury bags.
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Berger said the idea started with a simple question: "Why not take something that is being discarded and make it into something beautiful?" Berger posed to WSVN.
More background
Introduced species, from plants to animals, are often moved into new areas through human activity or forced into new ranges by human-induced climate change. In such areas, they can outcompete other species for food, water, sunshine, and space.
"It's not their fault that they are here, but they are, and they have to go," Siewe told the local news outlet. "There is no other choice."
Using skin from pythons, Berger said her business puts women at the center of the work, including the hunting, design, and manufacturing.
"The pythons really have to be removed, and thankfully there are women out there doing it, and I love being able to support them doing it," she told WSVN.
Where can I learn more?
The stories below offer more perspectives of Florida's fight against pythons.
• In Florida, python removal is saving native wildlife as hunters push back in the Everglades.
• In the Everglades, a record 10-day hunt removed 294 snakes but barely slowed them.
• Florida scientists found pythons are eating Nile monitors, further complicating Everglades control efforts.
• In the Florida Everglades, a remover grappled with a hissing python deep in the wetlands.
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