just north of the everglades on the last day of python season
snake expert bill booth sounds the alarm on a crisis of epic proportions
for the first time this year the entire crew will hunt together for one final critical mission
we're several miles north of the everglades and a boundary that you don't usually see pythons
and we come up here to a friend of mine's ranch pythons have run out of food in the everglades
so they're migrating north we got to get them before they get a hold of everything in this area
wow your buddy got a beautiful place here uh-huh car one of bill's friends has a big rank and it's
a beautiful place they got cattle they got deer they got wild hull they got a bird sanctuary
they got millions of birds that visited this area they've never had a python problem in the area all
of a sudden my buddy calls me and says they've got these pythons moving in and on the other side of
the river is this big estuary where there's birds and wildlife and they're heading to that estuary
they're moving north estuaries form where the river meets the sea the mix of fresh and salt
water make them the most productive and crucial ecosystems in the world countless animals rely
on estuaries for their survival all right yeah all right let's do it we're gonna try all right
the hunters will split up into three groups
troy and bill will head east as the first line of defense chase will take a boat on the water
and bruce and zach will hunt the western river bank we're gonna treat this river like a line
we're gonna have to hold our line not let no snakes cross this river hold out baby off we go
who's this snake up there oh come on grab it grab it oh yeah god that's a big snake dude you got it
go the other way go another one distract him his tail's back there i can grab it okay get his
attention bruce be careful dude be careful grab it grab it grab it just grab it pull it man pull it
you might have a chance at the tail grab it and roll
down but there you go there you go i got it i got it god look how big this thing is
watch it watch it man grab it grab him whoa hold on to him hold on to him whoa watch it
dude don't let him get you ah this is a bad snake dude look how big it is
watch him that's a big snake dude come on man watch it watch it man wow yeah
look at that boy that's what i'm talking about look how bad it is yeah dude look dude it's a
big female are you kidding me dude they here yeah and this is a big girl i know look at the rivers
right there a pregnant burmese python can lay up to 100 eggs if she makes her nest in the estuary
her offspring would decimate the wildlife i can't get over how big i can't get over that
they're actually this far north south florida is my hometown i was born and raised down here and
i've literally seen the invasive species take over they're messing with all of my backyard
wildlife this is going to be gone and my kids won't even get to experience it gosh you hear me
nope a snake right there
easy turbo i gotta wear him down i gotta wear him down
stay right there
got him
not a good thing that these snakes are crossing over into this ground
the snakes are making their way to those birds they can smell them
they know what's on the menu there's a lot of snakes in this era i think
meanwhile farther east look over here
he's going to the river troy and bill chase down a climbing giant
oh my god he's going up in that tree bro he wants to get out of here quick
once he gets up in there it's gonna be tough oh boy that's a big one
oh my god you got him right there yeah don't let him go no move i gotta get up there
good god catch him troy
he's pissed off he is mad dude give me the tail give me the tip
i can watch him put your light on him
be careful bill i got to get his head facing the other way he's facing me right now i see him
hell that thing's two feet from my face
we're in a freaking tight spot here get us get his attention over there troy
took his head phil got it got him you got him all right all right
okay listen hold on what you got i'm gonna try to get up then give you some slack on the whining
ah you got it yeah i'm not letting go in this trick in here i need to take a breath
he's coming all right oh jacob got him buddy
good
yeah you all right yeah i never worked so hard for a snake bill this is terrible song hey
this ain't good news no
with what we caught already over here i think this is a big female this thing here this time
next year could have dropped 60 or 70 little babies in this area river's right through the
trees here and i'm pretty sure that that snake was headed to the estuary over there and the
problem is it's a female and it's full of eggs she gets over there and dumps 50 60
70 eggs out over there and then you multiply that population by a few years it's out of control man
that was okay to get on three when we was 20 years old not when we were 60 years ago
looks good yep the bullet does look good what is that wild cabbage that looks like it'll
put the pounds on you quick we got wild boar so there's protein in there for you
before heading back to louisiana the swampers celebrate another successful hunt
in florida we've been working hard everybody's been hot sweaty stung by wasps right yeah
bit by snakes yeah we hunted hard down the everglades we moved north to the ranch here
we've caught a lot of snakes and i appreciate you guys coming out here
it's hard work you get cut you know you get beat up you twist your back and all but you know i feel
like it's worth it it's in my soul to go out there and make this stuff happen well i mainly come for
the money but after getting down here and seeing what we're doing right the money's good but we're
doing a lot of good for here what we're doing over here is not just about money it's about helping
the environment and stuff and it uh makes you feel real good when you're doing something like this
through their hunt the team pulled in an impressive 432 snakes totaling 112 000
well bill and jack i'm sure i can speak for bruce and chase we appreciate you all inviting
us up here and we had a good time but i really think the work has just be going oh yeah i really
think we just touched the tip of the iceberg it's a learning experience every year i think
we're better this year than we was last year and i'm hoping the good lord willing we'll come back
next year we're going to be even better than we were this year i don't think you're ever going to
catch them all but if we keep coming every year we can slow them down and control them a little bit
yeah we got to we got to keep them in check if you don't you ain't going to have nothing over here
you guys you know anytime you're doing anything with your friends whether it's hunting or fishing
when you all come together it's it's awesome you know you make a bond with your friends and
you remain friends for the rest of your lives and what we're doing here we're working we're
in the woods day and night but we're doing it with good friends so it's a win-win situation
next year i'll try to find you a better health thank you i appreciate that i appreciate
you