Tom Rahill caught 96 Burmese pythons and won the $10,000 first prize in a hunt that returned to Everglades National Park this year. The record Burmese python in Big Cypress Preserve effort drew hunters across several South Florida wildlife areas, all in service of removing an invasive predator from the ecosystem.
Rahill's total was the highest number tied to the top prize in the competition, giving his catch added weight in a field designed to push hunters to remove as many snakes as possible. The hunt was also open in Big Cypress Wildlife Management Area, Everglades and Francis S. Taylor Wildlife Management Area, Frog Pond Public Small Game Hunting Area, Holey Land Wildlife Management Area, Rocky Glades Public Small Game Hunting Area, Rotenberger Wildlife Management Area, and Southern Glades Wildlife and Environmental Area.
Tom Rahill and the prize
Rahill's 96 pythons won him $10,000, the first prize tied to the competition. For a hunter, that number is the clearest measure of success in a contest built around removal rather than speed or style.
The scale also shows how concentrated the work can be. One hunter took home the top award, but the hunt itself spread across multiple wildlife areas, so the total catch did not come from a single place.
Ron Bergeron and Nick Wiley
Ron Bergeron of the South Florida Water Management District said, "Removing Burmese pythons from this ecosystem is critical to the survival of the native species that call this area home." Nick Wiley, director of the Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida, said, "Each python removed helps conserve the native wildlife that makes the Everglades so extraordinary."
Those comments match the basic structure of the hunt: a competition built around removal, not release, with native wildlife treated as the reason for every snake taken out. The source describes Burmese pythons as an invasive predator in South Florida wetlands, and says native mammals, birds, and reptiles have seen their populations dwindle in the predator's presence.
Everglades National Park this year
The return of the competition to Everglades National Park this year puts the event back into a familiar conservation setting while leaving hunters with a wide search area. That matters because the hunt was not limited to one site; it stretched across named public lands, which is how the organizers turned a single contest into a broader removal effort.
What remains most practical for readers is simple: the hunt has already produced a winning total of 96 pythons and a $10,000 prize, but the wider problem has not gone away. The open question now is how many Burmese pythons were removed across all hunters and locations this year.
