Volusia County councilman going snake hunting; joins the Florida Python Challenge

County council vice chairman Danny Robins is teaming up with three other Volusia County men to capture and kill as many pythons as possible in South Florida in what he calls "the Python Super Bowl."

Burmese pythons are not native to the Everglades but, thanks to the pet trade, they are there and they are eating native animals, according to wildlife officials. The Florida Python Challenge is intended to help with that problem.

The challenge offers cash prizes for removing the most pythons from Aug. 4 to Aug. 13, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is a partner agency of the event. Robins headed out for the competition Tuesday and said he would stay until the final day.

The top prize is $10,000. People don't need a hunting license to participate, but they do need to take online training before registering.

Robins said this is his first competition, but it's not his first time hunting pythons in South Florida.

The average size of a Burmese python removed in Florida is 8-10 feet, but they can grow up to about 20 feet long, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. They also reproduce in large numbers, with females typically laying 50-100 eggs a year.

"They absolutely have destroyed a lot of the habitat down there, eating a lot of the small animals … I didn't see one raccoon or a possum or a squirrel or anything," Robins said of a recent trip.

Robins said his team will include a business owner, a college baseball player, and the player's dad, who is a retired police officer.

While Burmese pythons aren't venomous, they have teeth and will strike, Robins said. Hunters also have to watch out for native creatures, such as alligators.

"You literally line up and you just start canvassing an area through the sawgrass and through palmettos," Robins said.

He said he always carries a first-aid kit when hunting pythons. Snake boots or snake chaps and light, breathable clothing help.

About 1,000 people from the U.S., Canada, and Latvia registered for the 2022 event, according to the Associated Press. Hunters removed 231 pythons.

Participants are required to follow humane killing methods.

A humane method for killing a python means knocking it unconscious "immediately" and then using a rod to make sure its brain is destroyed, according to the FWC.

People can kill Burmese pythons any time of year, and the FWC encourages people to kill them humanely on private land with the permission of property owners. They can also be killed on Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission-managed lands as long as rules are followed.

County government and animals: Volusia County Council OKs pilot program for dogs on the beach

Members of the public aren't allowed to keep live pythons. But people can keep the skin or meat. State officials warn, though, that it might be unsafe to eat python meat.

Robins said his team doesn't plan to eat the meat or use the skin. For them, it's about helping with conservation and representing Volusia County, he said. If they win the big prize, he said he'll likely donate his portion of the funds to go toward more conservation efforts or charity.

"It's really an epidemic down there," Robins said.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Volusia Vice Chairman Danny Robins will join Florida python hunt