It's primetime for Florida men and women to live up to the well-earned reputation.
Florida is again inviting both residents and visitors to help remove Burmese pythons from the Everglades, with $25,000 in prize money available during this year's effort, as News4Jax reports.
What's happening?
The 2026 Florida Python Challenge opens on July 10, sending registered participants into South Florida to target Burmese pythons that have spread throughout the Everglades and prey heavily on native animals.
Set to start at 12:01 a.m. on July 10, the competition continues through July 19, giving approved entrants that window to remove invasive Burmese pythons from the Everglades ecosystem and compete for a share of $25,000.
Because Burmese pythons are not native to Florida and have few natural predators in the state, their population has become established largely in the Everglades region of South Florida. News4Jax reports that the snakes eat birds, mammals, and other reptiles, putting major pressure on native wildlife populations.
Managing the species is further complicated by the number of young they can produce. News4Jax reports that a single female Burmese python may lay between 50 and more than 100 eggs at a time. Since 2000, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has received reports of more than 27,000 Burmese pythons removed from Florida's environment.
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The park is also returning as a competition partner this year, News4Jax says, after last year's event set a record by removing 294 invasive Burmese pythons.
Why does it matter?
The ecological problem affects one of the country's most important wetland systems, and a landscape that supports wildlife, tourism, recreation, and nearby communities.
When invasive predators spread unchecked, they can disrupt food webs by reducing populations of native birds, small mammals, and reptiles. Over time, that can weaken the resilience of the Everglades ecosystem.
Healthy wetlands play a major role in biodiversity, flood control, and regional water systems.
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What's being done?
The Florida Python Challenge is one part of a broader effort to manage invasive species in the state. Organized removals can reduce python numbers in key areas while also educating the public about how nonnative species harm local ecosystems.
By partnering with Everglades National Park, the challenge expands both access to and visibility for this work. Python removal is part of a broader conservation strategy aimed at restoring native habitats and protecting wildlife.
The event also highlights the risks of releasing nonnative pets into the wild.
Florida's python problem will not disappear overnight. But every removed invasive snake can help ease pressure on native species and move the Everglades closer to recovery.
As this year's challenge gets underway, Florida is turning public interest into hands-on conservation to protect the Everglades from one of its most damaging invaders.
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