PYTHON COWBOY MIKE Kimmel and Python Huntress Amy Siewe are just two of the legendary characters trying to keep the rising population of Burmese pythons in check in Florida’s Everglades. Both were once snake killers for hire for the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) but now work as professional snake hunting guides.
“I was a state contractor for four years,” says Siewe. “I couldn’t make enough money to pay my bills. So I decided to become a fulltime python hunting guide in January.” She averages three hunts per week.
Siewe’s biggest catch so far was a 17-foot-3-inch monster that she killed in July 2021. Two years later, Kimmel slew a 16-foot-long female and was surprised to find over 60 eggs inside her. Of the 7,330 pythons killed by SFWMD contractors since March 2017, only 651 (9 percent) have been 10 feet
