A season of tracking Burmese pythons across the difficult terrain of southwest Florida ended with 177 snakes removed and more than 4,100 eggs taken out of the ecosystem.
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eggs → track → ecosystem
The work, carried out by the Conservancy of Southwest Florida and its python action team, covered about 200 square miles of Collier County between November 2025 and April 2026, as reported by the Conservancy of Southwest Florida.
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work → carry → Florida
Together, the captured snakes weighed 8,080 pounds, or just over four tons.
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snakes → capture → pounds
The programme has been running for more than a decade, using radio-tagged male pythons to locate breeding snakes in places that can be difficult for people to reach.
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people → run → places
This season produced the largest total biomass removed by the organisation since the programme began in 2013.
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programme → produce → 2013
Florida Burmese python removal began with a 17-foot female
The first capture came in November, when a tagged male known as Snaquan led the tracking team to a large female python.
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male → begin → python
She measured 17 feet and weighed 148 pounds, setting the tone for a season in which several of the snakes recovered were substantial animals.
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several → measure → snakes
By April, the team had removed 177 Burmese pythons from the study area.
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team → remove → area
The females captured during the season averaged about 95 pounds, while the heaviest reached 153 pounds.
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heaviest → capture → pounds
Several measured more than 16 feet.
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Several → measure → feet
For the people following them through the landscape, size was only part of the challenge.
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size → follow → challenge
Large females can spend time in remote areas, making them difficult to locate without a way of narrowing down where they are moving.
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they → spend → way
How Florida's python removal programme uses tagged scout snakes
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programme → use → snakes
The Conservancy's method centres on radio telemetry and a group of around 40 tagged male pythons.
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method → centre → pythons
These animals are used as what the organisation calls scout snakes.
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organisation → use → what
During the breeding period, researchers monitor their movements.
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researchers → monitor → movements
When a tagged male begins spending time around other pythons, the location can point the team towards a mating group.
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location → tag → group
That allows biologists to reach the area and search for additional snakes, including females carrying eggs.
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biologists → allow → eggs
It is a very different approach from simply searching for snakes across the Everglades landscape.
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It → search → landscape
The tagged animals provide a moving signal, helping researchers decide where to concentrate their efforts.
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researchers → tag → efforts
Ian Bartoszek, a wildlife biologist and science project manager with the Conservancy, said, “This was our first four-ton removal season.
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This → say → Conservancy
Our tagged scout snakes helped us locate large breeding snakes deep in the landscape before they had a chance to lay eggs.”
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they → tag → eggs
More than 4,100 eggs were removed
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eggs → remove → ?
According to Conservancy of Southwest Florida, the programme's work this season extended beyond adult snakes with more than 4,100 python eggs also removed.
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eggs → accord → snakes
The reproductive figures found inside captured females give some indication of why the team pays particular attention to breeding animals.
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team → find → animals
Females examined during the season carried an average of about 70 eggs, according to the Conservancy.
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Females → examine → Conservancy
Some of the snakes had also been feeding on native animals.
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Some → feed → animals
The organisation reported that around a quarter of the females captured contained remains of white-tailed deer.
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quarter → report → deer
Burmese pythons are established in southern Florida, where their presence has raised concerns about predation on native wildlife.
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presence → establish → wildlife
The Conservancy's work is aimed in part at reducing reproduction by finding breeding females and removing them before they can produce another generation.
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they → aim → generation
Florida python programme removed 8,080 pounds of snakes
The scale of some captures means the fieldwork is not simply a matter of picking up a small reptile and carrying it away.
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fieldwork → remove → it
Several females recovered during the season weighed well over 100 pounds.
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females → recover → pounds
Photographs from the programme show researchers working with large snakes found after scout males were tracked through southwest Florida.
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males → show → Florida
Reportedly, one of the snakes located by scout number 103, known as Lincoln, measured 16 feet and weighed 140 pounds.
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one → locate → pounds
The largest female captured during the season weighed 153 pounds.
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female → capture → pounds
Snaquan's first lead had produced a 148-pound female.
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lead → produce → female
These individual animals account for a significant portion of the total biomass removed.
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animals → account → biomass
Across all 177 snakes, the combined weight reached 8,080 pounds.
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weight → combine → pounds
The programme has been running since 2013
The latest season brought the programme's cumulative total to about 1,750 Burmese pythons removed since it began in 2013.
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it → run → 2013
Those snakes have weighed more than 53,000 pounds altogether.
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snakes → weigh → pounds
…and 10 more, not listed.
The Aporia
