In the dead of night, hunters go deep into the Florida Everglades, searching for the invasive Burmese pythons that are eating up mice, rabbits and other prey.

The Florida Python Challenge is now open for registration.

Officials say a 68-year-old man fell off a sailboat in the Florida Everglades and was bitten by a crocodile while trying to swim to shore.

Pythons have been hunted in the Florida Everglades for years, but, new research shows the invasive species may be trying to establish itself closer to Orlando.

More than 800 competitors will be trudging through the Florida Everglades for the next eight days, in search of invasive Burmese pythons that will bring in thousands of dollars in prize money.

Do you ever stop what you’re doing and think to yourself, “We live in SUCH a cool state”? Florida is massive -- and packs an incredible amount of natural beauty.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has completed work on a $339 million reservoir constructed to cleanse water runoff before it flows into a troubled Florida river.

The parents of a 1-year-old boy who drowned in the Florida Everglades after a car wreck have been arrested.

An annual hunt started Friday to try to reduce the number of Burmese pythons that threaten native wildlife in the Everglades.

Professional python hunters and amateurs alike can win prizes in Florida’s annual hunt for the Burmese pythons that are ravaging the state’s native species.

Less than a year after two state agencies decided to combine forces and remove invasive snakes from the Everglades, contractors caught a record number of Burmese pythons. The News-Press reported that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Southwest Florida Water Management District removed nearly 2,000 invasive pythons in the first eight months of 2020, surpassing 2019 totals. As of mid-October, the teams removed nearly 4,000 snakes bringing the total snakes removed since the program’s inception in 2017 to 6,278. Invasive Burmese pythons pose a great risk for small mammal populations in the Everglades. Female Burmese pythons can carry between 50-100 eggs.

A nearly 19-foot-long Burmese python weighing 104 pounds is caught in the Florida Everglades by two men. News 6 Anchors Matt Austin and Ginger Gadsden spoke with Ryan Ashburn and Kevin “Snakeaholic” Pavlidis on this week’s edition of Florida’s Fourth Estate podcast about their record-breaking catch. We spoke to this duo of python wranglers not long after the catch about what it was like to find a Burmese python this size in the Everglades. Both have been bitten numerous times so they’ve learned how to safely escape the strong jaws and razor sharp teeth of the Burmese python. Listen to the full episode of Florida’s Fourth Estate on iTunes here or on Sticher here.

A Burmese python measuring nearly 19 feet long was found in the Florida Everglades, and the massive catch was caught on camera. From the moment they saw this python, Ryan Ausburn and Kevin Pavlidis knew she was something special. “I was like, ‘Oh, my God, that thing is massive,’” python hunter Pavlidis said. They were hunting the invasive species in the Florida Everglades when they spotted a Burmese python they suspected would break records. Florida Fish and Wildlife says the snake was 18-feet, 9-inches, beating the previous Florida record by 5 inches.

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A wildlife trapper known as the Python Cowboy caught a 17-foot python in the Florida Everglades, and he’s got the photos to prove it. Last week, Mike Kimmel went out to a secluded island where he spotted alligator droppings. He came upon what he said looked like an extra large python that made his heart pound. He said he will also receive a payment from Florida’s Python Action Team, which pays people to remove the invasive species. Now, wildlife officials estimate there might be as many as 100,000 pythons living in the Everglades.

NAPLES, Fla. – A kayaker who went missing during a solo trip in the Florida Everglades was found alive after his cell phone washed up on a riverbank and authorities were able to recover data showing where he'd been. Miele embarked on a solo kayaking trip in Everglades National Park on Jan. 22 and was due back Jan. 29, officials said. He never returned, but a bag containing his wallet and phone washed up Sunday on the bank of the Lopez River. His most recent location had been recorded Friday, giving the sheriff's aviation unit a place to target its search. A helicopter crew eventually spotted Miele floating in the water face-up and wearing a life jacket several miles from where his belongings were found.

Giant pythons have seemingly taken over the Florida Everglades and now the only way to get rid of them is to hunt them down and kill them. This week on Florida’s Fourth Estate we speak with William Graf from the South Florida Water Management District and he explains how these snakes have thrown the ecosystem in the Everglades off balance. Graf explains why it’s a battle we cannot afford to lose. Watch Florida’s Fourth Estate in the video player at the top of this story or download the episode on Apple Podcasts. Florida’s Fourth Estate podcast with Ginger Gadsden and Matt Austin looks at everything from swampy politics to a fragile environment and even the crazy headlines that make Florida the craziest state in the Union.