Maryland Announces First Python Challenge, $50,000 in Prizes
Ten years after Florida’s first annual Python Challenge, Maryland is joining a growing number of southeastern states trying to eliminate the invasive species before it’s too late.
Maryland’s first open python hunt runs March 20 through June 21 and is timed to coincide with breeding season, when female Burmese python lay dozens of eggs at a time.
The Maryland Python Challenge hunters who collect the most Burmese pythons and the largest by length each win $15,000 prizes. An additional $20,000 gets split among first- and second-runner ups.
The 90-day Python Challenge is open to the public. No hunting permits are required. Pythons must be humanely killed where found, kept chilled or frozen, and turned in dead at the nearest accessible Maryland Python Challenge check station within 24 hours of capture.
Morelia Viridis, a licensed python hunter from Miami, said he’s joining Maryland’s hunt this year. “The prizes are better. A lot of guys are coming up.” Viridis captured a 17-foot Burmese last year and estimates he's caught about a 1,000 in the last ten years.
Viridis’ biggest caution is to be vigilant. "You don't want to bend over, trying to snare a python, and not notice the 10-foot gator underneath," he said. A 12-foot alligator was recently pulled from the Occoquan reservoir in Virginia.
Florida’s Everglades were overrun by Burmese python in the 1990s, after Hurricane Andrew destroyed a breeding facility allowing countless snakes into the nearby swamps. Snakes have been moving up the east coast ever since, driven by warmer temperatures sparked by global warming.
Although invasive pythons have yet to be spotted in Maryland, conservationists say it’s just a matter of time. “We need to act fast. Between 1997 and 2012 the Florida Everglades’ raccoon, opossum and bobcat populations dropped 99.3, 98.9, and 87.5 percent respectively. Marsh rabbits, cottontail rabbits and foxes effectively disappeared,” said Maryland conservationist Basil Adder.
“This is our last shot before they take over the Chesapeake,” Adder warns. “We need all hands on deck to stop them.”
