NARRATOR: Two weeks into Python season.
King of the Swamp Troy Landry and his partner, Pickle Wheat,
are out to settle a score.
Last year, Zak and Bruce, three nights in a row,
a giant snake got away from them.
They said it was the biggest snake that they'd
seen all year last year.
So last night, Bruce could have grabbed him
and I think he chickened out.
It got away from him.
Kind of spooky that Bruce actually
almost put his hands on it.
But Zak said he froze.
This thing is huge, dude.
How long is this snake?
You got his head? You see his--
- Oh! - Watch it!
God dang it!
Since last year, I got that snake on my mind.
Uh-huh.
So I want us to come and try.
Mr. Bruce and Zak have lost this snake, from what I hear,
three times-- all at night.
So I nicknamed this snake "The Night Serpent."
He just keeps getting away.
Zak said he's about 17, 18-feet long.
It's making me kind of nervous.
To me, that's a massive snake.
And I've never even seen anything like that before.
NARRATOR: In the wild, Burmese pythons can
grow up to 18-feet in length.
But unconfirmed sightings suggest rare specimens
can exceed 20 feet.
You see how that trail is fading away?
Yeah, it's getting real skinny over there.
Yeah, yeah. And that's what Jack told me.
He said as soon as the trail narrows down,
that's where we lost him-- to the right.
I think we ought to stop here.
Well, let's go check it out.
Yep, yep.
Let's go see.
Let me get the sack.
We're going into the spot that Zak told us about,
and we're going to see if we could get him.
All right now, we've got to be careful.
We're gonna stick kind of close together, OK?
That's a little stinky one there, huh?
Oh, yeah, Pee Wee.
Watch him.
He's going to get you.
Yep, yep, yep, yep.
They got 100 little fish in there for him to eat
when he opens that mouth.
That's why they call him a cottonmouth right there.
Uh-huh. See that white mouth.
Yep.
NARRATOR: The cottonmouth, also called a water moccasin,
is an extremely venomous aquatic snake
native to the Southeastern US.
Its venom prevents blood from clotting,
which can cause extensive internal bleeding and death.
He's having a buffet right here.
Let's follow this big trail right here from the water
going back a little ways.
If he's here, that means the other snakes
are going to be here, too.
We ain't in the right area, but we're on the right track.
I really feel it.
Let's stay focused.
Stay focused. (WHISPERING) Pee Wee.
Pee Wee. Pee Wee.
Look right here.
That's a huge trail, huh?
Yes.
That's a snake?
Yeah, that's a giant snake trail.
I think we're in a good area.
We've seen a lot of trails right now.
And the trails I'm seeing is mostly snake trails.
Oh, look, he's in a tree! Pee Wee, Pee Wee, hurry up!
Hurry up! Hurry up!
Watch it. Be careful.
Don't let him-- - Oh, my god.
What do you do here?
We got to get him out of the tree before he goes any higher.
Look how he wraps himself and he can hold himself.
Watch that head.
Whatever you do, watch that head, because he will come down
and get you.
Oh, [bleep].
Watch him, Pee Wee. Watch him.
Here, unwind him.
I'm trying.
Unwind him, pass him over here.
Watch him. Watch him.
Watch him.
OK, he's coming down.
Be careful.
Ah! There's no way.
[laughs]
Look at him.
No!
[laughs]
Get him over that way.
I'll grab him off.
OK, let's get him down.
[music playing]
All right, Pee Wee.
Good job.
Good job, Pee Wee. Good job.
Ring around the rosie now.
Watch him. Watch him.
He mad.
Oh, he thought he was getting away.
All right, good job!
We got him now.
Uh, first one out of the tree, dude!
You never know where they're going to be.
Uh! Uh!
It could be under a log.
They can be in a creek.
They can be in the water.
They can be on high ground.
That was awesome. Ready?
One, two, three.
NARRATOR: This tree-climbing giant is a good start,
and will net them $300.
But it's not the Night Serpent they came for.
That was crazy. All right.
All right, good job.
That big snake that Bruce and Zak
was after, he's the big alpha.
I'm hoping we can find it.
That's a big snake trail.
That's bigger than normal.
Well, we're looking at where they're crossing
in the mud, the trails.
They've got snake trails on top of snake trails back here.
Look at the size of that trail.
See all of these little trails,
like, just slithering off.
And I'm like, oh, like, what happened here, you know?
Like, that was obviously a lot of snakes in this area.
Uh-oh.
Uh-oh, look here. - Oh, what?
Look here. Look it here.
What is that?
That's a skeleton of a snake.
I guarantee you, according to the size of that backbone,
that was a 14-foot snake.
Yeah.
That's a big old snake.
Very big.
I hope that's not the one we're looking for.
We are right in the area where Bruce
and Zak lost that big one last year, three nights in a row.
Now, whether that's the same snake or not,
I have no way to tell.
But there's not a lot of big, dominant male snakes
like that in the area.
Look at it-- the terrain is changing here.
Yeah.
You can tell this had water into it not long ago.
- Yeah. - Look at it.
Oh, Pee Wee! Pee Wee!
Pee Wee! Hurry up!
Oh!
Look at this thing!
Oh, my god!
Ooh.
Bastard.
Be careful.
Oh, jeez.
Watch that thing.
Oh!
Ay-yi-yi-yi!
He is mean as hell.
Want me to get him?
Uh!
Hey.
Wear him down.
Uh!
OK, OK, OK, come here.
Ah!
If he strikes at you, I'm gonna grab him, OK?
He's focused at me.
Watch him.
You ready?
Watch him.
Ooh, he's getting ready!
Ooh!
[laughs]
- Not today! - Ooh, good job!
Good job!
Not today.
Now you got me in a bind here.
Nah, let the snake go for a second.
Let the head-- you can't let it go?
Uh-uh.
If I let him go, he's gonna get me.
Oh!
He pooped on me!
He's really going to get me.
No, I ain't gonna let him get you.
He's slipping out. I got to let him go.
- Oh, he's slipping out? - Yeah!
OK, let him go. Let him go.
You got to let him go. - I can't.
You can't?
I can't.
Oh. OK.
It's all right.
Huh!
Mm!
- Yeah! - OK.
OK, you hold the sack.
See?
He's wrapping.
OK, ready?
1, 2, 3.
Oh! You all right?
Whew! Yeah, I'm good.
- Didn't get you, huh? - Full of snake [bleep].
That's all right. No, he didn't bite you.
He didn't bite you? - It stinks.
No, uh-uh.
NARRATOR: This 8-foot python, their second of the day,
is worth $300.
It's a solid start, but the real prize
is the elusive Night Serpent.
We're going to keep going towards the big hill
over there.
We're doing good.
We're catching our share.
But I want to go in there and look for this big snake,
the Night Serpent.
This way.
A trail?
Yeah.
NARRATOR: In total darkness, Troy and Pickle
are following a snake trail they believe
will lead to the Night Serpent.
- Well, it's a jungle. - I know.
It's so thick back here.
It's a jungle in here.
Man, it's nasty in here.
But it's so thick.
It'd be hard to see a elephant in here, much less a snake.
Pee Wee and I, we're following this--
the freshest trail we can find.
And you could kind of tell which one
was the older trail that wasn't being used
as much as the fresher ones.
Look right here.
Look at the size of this trail.
Oh, P! P!
Hurry up! Come right in!
Oh, my god!
Oh, my god.
Watch him, Pee Wee. Watch him.
Ah!
Oh, be careful!
- Ah! - Ay-yi!
[gasps]
We got to be careful with this thing.
He got a reach out of this world.
This is the biggest one, dude.
This is bigger than any snake we've caught so far.
Listen. - OK.
He's looking at me.
He's fixing to strike at me, OK?
OK.
When he strike at me, you go for that tail, OK?
OK. Distract him.
Make him go that way.
He already got his eyes set on me.
Hey!
Ay-yi-yi-yi-yi! - Watch yourself.
I'm gonna get him. I'm gonna get him.
You ready? - Yep.
He's looking at me. Ah!
Hoo! Hoo!
Oh, yeah, there you go, P. I got--
Oh, whoa.
Look how he's protecting that tail.
He knows.
That tells you how smart he is.
I know, that's why he's so big.
If I don't know no better, which I really don't, he
might have got that big one that Zak and Mr. Bruce keep losing.
I mean, he's huge, dude.
We got to make him move.
Come on.
There you go, that's your chance.
Got it! - Got it!
I've got it! I've got it!
I got it. I got it.
All right, stretch him out. Stretch him out.
Watch him! Watch him!
He'll get you. - Whoa!
Ay-yi-yi! - He'll get you!
Ah! - Ay-yi-yi-yi!
Woo! I couldn't.
I had to let it go.
Get his attention.
Make him look at you.
OK.
Come here, you.
Come here.
Look right here. - Lord, please help me.
Uh!
Ah!
God!
[laughs]
Oh!
Oh, that [bleep]!
Ay-yi-yi-yi-yi!
He's trying to twist out of my hand.
Get the sack. Hurry up.
Let's put him in the sack.
Hurry up.
NARRATOR: This ferocious 12-foot python may have been
the alpha male of the area.
Oh!
Lord, have mercy.
NARRATOR: But whether it was the Night Serpent is up for debate.
You know, looking at the snake we just caught
and looking at the skeleton we found, the skeleton
were the bigger snake.
But that tells me he was an older snake.
And it's mother nature's course, you know?
The younger, stronger take over the old and weaker ones.
Let's follow our trail, because we have to pick up
the snakes we left on the way.
Putting two and two together, I
think the Night Serpent had his day
and we got the next boss in line.
We got the King of the Jungle here.