Florida doesn't know where invasive giant Burmese pythons are hiding in the Everglades. So scientists are following the males

Florida has tried professional hunters, public competitions and even robot rabbits to deal with its invasive Burmese python problem. But one of its most unusual methods involves using the snakes themselves.

Researchers with the US Geological Survey (USGS), along with partners including the US Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service, implant radio transmitters in Burmese pythons and track their movements. The technique helps scientists study how the invasive snakes move, reproduce and use the landscape.

The most useful snakes may be adult males.


During the winter breeding season, male Burmese pythons actively search for females. By tracking these "scout" pythons, biologists can sometimes follow them to breeding aggregations containing several males and a large female — snakes that would otherwise be extremely difficult to locate in the dense Everglades.

The strategy is particularly useful because reproductive females are considered important targets for population reduction.

One tracking operation found 53 reproductive females

The potential of the technique became clear during the 2019-2020 breeding season.

Researchers tracking male "scout" pythons helped locate and remove 86 adult Burmese pythons. Together, the snakes weighed about 5,000 pounds. Among them were 53 reproductive females carrying more than 2,500 developing eggs.

Instead of searching the vast wetlands randomly for hidden snakes, researchers could use the natural behaviour of males to narrow down where breeding females were likely to be.

It is an unusual reversal of the normal predator-prey relationship: rather than simply hunting the invasive snakes, scientists are using one python's search for a mate to locate another.

Why finding Burmese pythons is so difficult

Burmese pythons have become established across South Florida after being introduced into the Everglades beginning in the 1970s. They are highly secretive, well camouflaged and capable of reaching more than 18 feet in length.

That combination makes them particularly difficult to survey.

USGS has noted that there is no robust estimate of the total Burmese python population in Florida because the snakes are so difficult to detect. Estimates sometimes cited in public discussions run into the tens or even hundreds of thousands, but the precise number remains uncertain.

Researchers have used radiotelemetry to locate and study pythons since at least 2006. The newer, more coordinated approach involving scout males is designed to make that technology more useful for locating breeding snakes.

The snakes have transformed parts of the Everglades

The concern isn't simply the presence of a very large snake.

Burmese pythons are generalist predators capable of consuming a wide range of animals, including mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles. Their expansion has been associated with major changes in native wildlife communities in the Everglades.

In one study of more than 300 Burmese pythons collected in Everglades National Park, birds accounted for about 25% of the snakes' diet. The documented bird prey ranged from the roughly 5-inch House Wren to the approximately 4-foot Great Blue Heron.

Other research has documented declines in several native mammal populations following the spread of Burmese pythons. USGS has described severe reductions in species such as raccoons, opossums and rabbits in areas where the invasive snakes became established.

The ecological effects extend beyond the animals that pythons directly consume. Removing prey can affect predators higher up the food chain, including native carnivores and birds of prey.

Florida is using hunters — and robots — too

The scout-python strategy is only one part of Florida's broader effort.

The state has also relied on professional contractors and members of the public. The annual Florida Python Challenge brings trained amateur and professional hunters into the Everglades to search for and remove the invasive snakes.

In the 2026 challenge, 907 participants from 30 states, as well as Canada and Vietnam, removed 280 Burmese pythons over the competition period. The event's cumulative tally has now passed 1,600 snakes.

Florida has also experimented with technology designed to exploit python behaviour. The South Florida Water Management District has tested robotic rabbits that imitate prey and are intended to attract pythons, adding another tool to an increasingly unusual arsenal.

Since 2017, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and South Florida Water Management District contractors have removed more than 19,000 pythons.

Yet the challenge remains enormous.

The strange logic behind the strategy

Burmese pythons don't make themselves easy targets. They can disappear into vegetation and wetlands, remain motionless for long periods and occupy a landscape that is difficult for humans to search systematically.

That is why researchers have increasingly focused on understanding the snake's own behaviour.

A male looking for a mate can reveal the location of a female that a human searching on foot might never encounter.

And that may be the most unusual lesson from Florida's python battle: sometimes the most effective way to find an invasive animal isn't to search for it directly.

It is to follow the animal that is already searching for it.