Florida’s new weapon in war on pythons: snake-catching tribesmen from India

MIAMI – Florida has gone halfway around the world to get help with its python problem.

Wildlife officials recruited tribesmen from India to hunt the Burmese pythons believed to be decimating native mammals in the Everglades.

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The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission hopes the Irula tribesmen reveal a reliable way to track and spot the snakes that all but disappear in the wetlands unless they’re basking in the sun alongside a road or canal.

The tribesmen are well-known for their snake-catching skills. They removed 13 pythons in just over a week, including four from the Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge in Key Largo. One of the snakes was a female measuring 16 feet long.