Tom Rahill caught and killed 96 Burmese pythons in the Florida Everglades over 10 days in July, winning the 2026 Florida Python Challenge. His catch made up nearly one-third of the 280 pythons removed during the contest, which ran from July 10 through July 19 across eight hunting locations. He took home a $10,000 prize. The Guardian

The challenge is run by several government agencies, including the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the National Park Service. This year, 907 people from 30 US states, Canada, and Vietnam signed up to hunt the snakes, which are killed as quickly and humanely as possible. A separate $1,000 prize for the longest snake went to Rahm Levinson, who killed a python measuring 16 feet 5 inches. The Guardian

Rahill's background makes this year's result stand out. He founded a group called SwampApes, which takes military veterans dealing with PTSD on python hunts in Florida's wetlands. The idea is to help veterans heal through outdoor activity while also fighting the snake problem. The Guardian

Burmese pythons are not supposed to be in Florida. They come from Southeast Asia and were first spotted in the Everglades in the 1990s. Since then, they have multiplied and spread. Wildlife officials say there is no single way to get rid of them. Before the 2026 contest, 1,400 pythons had already been removed from the area that year through hired hunters and competitions. More than 1,600 have been removed through the Florida Python Challenge since it started in 2017. Counting all efforts, more than 19,000 snakes have been pulled from the Everglades during that same period. The Guardian

Sarah Funck, a program coordinator at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said there is no "silver bullet" to fix the python problem. But she stressed that removing even one snake helps Florida's native animals.

The broader context here is that the numbers tell a sobering story. Nineteen thousand snakes removed over nearly a decade have not stopped the python population from growing back. The snakes are hard to spot because their skin blends into the Everglades landscape, the wetlands are huge and difficult to reach, and each female can lay dozens of eggs at a time. Think of it like bailing water out of a boat with a hole in the bottom: you can scoop fast, but the water keeps rising.

The Florida Python Challenge's 10-day window adds to the state's year-round hunting program but does not replace it. The 280 snakes removed in 2026 are a small drop in the bucket compared to the total population, which scientists believe numbers in the tens of thousands. What the contest does offer is a way for the public to help, a chance to get people from across the country and beyond involved, and a yearly snapshot that agencies can use to track progress.

For anyone watching how Florida handles invasive species, the 2026 results look familiar. Participation, prize amounts, and snake counts have stayed in the same range year to year. The approach — mixing contests, hired hunters, and groups like SwampApes — has not changed because no one has found a better answer. The challenge is now in its ninth year. The lack of a silver bullet has not slowed the effort to keep the snake population in check, one python at a time.