In the battle to save the Everglades...
-Hurry up. Grab her. -Oh!
Old warriors return...
Oh! Fell off a tree.
Oh!
and rejoin the struggle...
[barks] Oh, stop here. Stop.
Unh! Oh!
...to crush the invasion.
That’s him. That’s the one.
Oh, my God.
Aah!
On a cattle ranch just north of the Everglades,
veteran snake hunter Bill Booth and his partner Tes Lee
have put their python hunt on an unexpected hold.
There he is.
What’s up, Jake?
Jake’s a cattle rancher
I’ve known since he was a young boy.
His father’s a longtime cattleman and cowboy
and he called me
and said that they got a little bit of a problem.
-Good to see you, brother. -Yes, sir.
There’s quite a few pythons.
I talked to Dad, and he said y’all can hunt ’em.
But we do have a gator problem out here.
What’s going on with the gators?
They’re catching a lot of the calves,
and we actually have two three-legged calves out there
that got caught about two months ago, so...
Oh, no.
So you’ve got a real problem out here then.
Yes, ma’am.
They’ve got a couple calves right now
that are three-legged calves,
and when they were newborns, they were down by the river
and they got nailed by an alligator
and tore their legs off.
We got Troy and Pickle that are helping us with pythons,
and, you know, Troy’s the King of the Swamp
when it comes to alligators.
Yes, sir.
We’ll get them over here,
and we’ll get going on it.
Dude, they got so many animals back here.
Everywhere else we’ve been,
the snakes done tore everything up.
Yeah, and that’s why they moving north.
-For food. -Mm-hmm.
BILL: There’s old Landry.
Troy and Pickle.
Well, what a beautiful place.
What’s happening, big buddy?
They got a bad alligator and a bad python problem
here on this ranch.
They had some calves get killed and some crippled up.
But that what it was, an alligator?
-Mm-hmm. -No kidding.
Alligator problem, yeah,
but it sounds like you got a snake problem, too, huh?
Bill, I feel confident we can get rid of the alligators.
We can find the big one that causing the problem.
We gonna get him before we leave here.
But what you do about the snakes?
We can go scout,
just look around with the side-by-side, you know.
Yeah, trying to find a hot spot for the snakes.
There’s a big alligator out here
that definitely we need to take out of this area.
But we need at least a dozen snakes before dark
to make it worth our while.
-I’ve already set some lines. -All right.
Let’s go catch some snakes first
and then go catch that gator.
With an ambitious goal of 12 snakes
among the four hunters,
the teams separate and head out.
It’s really a shame that a beautiful place like this
has a snake problem.
Snakes don’t belong here.
It’s such a paradise.
You see deer, you see birds,
and you see all kind of animals,
and that’s why the snakes are moving here.
Further south, when you get close to the Everglades,
they done ate everything.
There’s nothing left for them to eat.
Oh, Pee-wee, Pee-wee!
-You see one? -Yes.
Snake! Go, Pee-wee. Hurry, hurry!
I just saw the tail of it, look right there.
Look right there. Oh, my God.
-Look at this thing. -Ohh!
Oh! Don’t let it get away. Don’t let it get away.
Uh! Let me get down there by you.
Watch it, watch it.
As long as it’s in this dirty stuff,
it’s got the advantage of us.
Don’t let it go back in--aah!
Oh, my God, it’s huge.
I got her.
Don’t let him go, P.
Ay-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi!
Ohh, watch it.
Why you brought it over here?
I need you to protect me. That’s why.
Aah!
Ooh-whoo. Watch it, Pee-wee. Watch it.
It’s nasty.
Oh! All right, P.
-Ooh, be careful. -Ay-yi-yi-yi-yi!
Man, that snake is aggressive.
I got it, Pee-wee. I got it.
Ay-ay!
All right, Pee-wee.
Here’s your chance.
That’s what I’m talking about.
Good job.
Not my leg, not my leg
Good job, Pee-wee. Good job.
Another one bites the dust, baby.
Still trying to get you.
This nine-footer is the first of the dozen
they want to capture before switching to alligator hunting.
These snakes, whether anybody wants to believe it or not,
they’re steady moving north.
And so they’re just gonna spread from property to property,
and it’s a shame that a place like this
is getting overran by a nuisance.
Good job.
Got a long way to go.
Yeah.
52 miles south,
today is Florida local Aaron Crum’s last mission,
because tomorrow he starts a new job.
His partner Zak Catchem
has called a swamp veteran for help,
legendary hunter Bruce Mitchell.
I’ve been laid up awhile.
So now I’m getting around, I’m feeling good.
Well, Aaron helped me out.
He covered me while I was gone.
Just had a knee replacement seven months ago.
I’m getting back in good shape.
I’m ready to chase snakes.
To capitalize on the power of a three-man team,
the crew’s heading to one of Bruce’s favorite spots.
Good little honey hole. Something good to come back to.
It’s gonna be a lot of snakes. I really believe that.
They gotta have five times as much this year.
You’re revved up, ain’t you?
Yeah. I’m ready to go. [all laugh]
Good thing you’re back, man, because business is calling.
I gotta hightail it out of here,
and we’re gonna need to catch a bunch before I go.
With the three of us combined,
we’re gonna thin ’em out back here.
We caught some snakes out here, Aaron.
I’m telling you, some big ones.
To this day, I call it the Brucie hole now.
You call it the Brucie hole? [all laugh]
It’s a nice canopy in here. Look at that.
Snake heaven.
It’s dense back here, ain’t it?
Yup. That’s what the snakes like, though.
I haven’t even seen a squirrel in the trees.
Right now we have a major problem on our hands.
There’s no signs of anything,
um, just wildlife and an old grown-up trail.
Yo, check this out.
What is that?
That’s a chameleon.
Chameleons are tree-dwelling lizards
that have invaded the Everglades.
They change colors to blend with their environment
as they prey on insects, frogs, and small lizards.
Adult chameleons are worth about $50
when sold to pet stores.
-If I can get up there... -We could sell him?
-Hell, yeah. -Yeah.
Well, shoot, let’s catch him.
Pretty cool. You’ve never seen them in the pet stores?
-He’s running away now. -Come here, buddy.
He’s fast.
[laughs]
Check out that.
Look at the colors on that thing, dude.
All right, coming down to you. Bag’s open?
Yeah.
-Oh! -Perfect.
We caught him. Looked like he didn’t even fall in there.
I’m thinking that the snakes are chasing these lizards.
So, hey, we gotta look up and down now.
A snake just wants after whatever he can get.
He just wants an easy meal, that’s it.
Now you’ve got me looking for lizards,
I done forgot about snakes.
Yeah, not as dangerous.
Come on, boys.
25 miles west...
Come on, Ri.
...solo hunter Dusty Crum has come up with an idea
that could turn his dog Riley
into an even better python hunter.
You know how Daddy wears a light and has a light?
Well, what if we can put one on you?
You know, to be the number-one snake hunter in the world, son,
you gotta be innovative
and come up with new ideas every day
and just keep on pushing the limit, son.
Put your paw in, put your one paw out.
And today we got Swiss Army Ri, son.
She’s gonna light it up, she’s gonna help carry the snake bag.
Son, she’s gonna be the frickin’ next--like a robodog.
Look at that, Ri.
What is your daddy doing to you?
Ri, this way you won’t get lost
and we can see the snakes better.
What do you think?
What would we do without stinking duct tape?
Everything I got around here is kind of hucklebuck.
You know, I always gotta be fixing on stuff.
What do you think about that, Ri?
Is that good?
Yeah, that’ll work.
Hucklebuck’s kind of like
doing with what you got, you know.
It’s making do with what’s available, you know,
and kinda low budget.
Oh, yeah, baby, look at that, son.
They can call you Lightning.
It’s a win-win-win
because it’s gonna shed the lights on the snakes.
It’s gonna help Riley see, gonna help me see.
Frickin’ brilliant, son.
You ready to go, Ri?
Let’s go to work. Come on.
Let’s go try it out.
[yip]
[barking]
Back at the ranch,
Bill and Tes investigate the river for pythons.
Together with Troy and Pickle, they need a dozen snakes
to remain on track before going after a rogue alligator.
So do you think
they’re just gonna be laying out along the water?
Yeah, they could be.
It’s kinda warm out. They like the water.
There’s about three miles of river
that run through this ranch,
and in the wintertime, the water levels drop down
and you can almost ride a bicycle down the middle of it.
You’re trying to find water holes
where animals might get something to drink.
Pythons tend to know this.
They have an instinct of where the wildlife is.
Right there. See him?
He’s up there sunbathing.
Come on, come on.
-It’s huge. -Be careful.
He just came out of that water and laying up on the bank.
Ooh!
Be careful. Don’t fall off the back, Tes.
Oh, my God!
He’s trying to go back.
Bill, he’s getting away! He’s getting away, Bill!
Here, I got him. Whoa!
He’s in the water.
Get him, Tes. You got his tail?
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, he’s slipping out of my hands.
Bill, he got out.
Don’t let him get to the bank.
We’ll lose him if he gets up there.
Aah! I missed.
Get him, get him. Trying to get away.
Be careful.
Watch out for the head.
Ready?
Oh, yeah. Good job, Tes.
Man, they move so much quicker in this water.
It’s so hard to get ’em.
This is a whole new way of catching snakes.
Land, you can read ’em differently.
You’re able to pin ’em against the ground when you catch them.
The water, there’s none of that,
so you’re down there right next to the snake
with nothing to push off on.
We better pick up the pace.
Come on, water buckets, let’s go.
We gotta hustle.
Meanwhile, after finding a chameleon in a tree,
Zak, Bruce, and Aaron keep an eye for possible pythons above,
but have had no luck so far.
We get over here and there ain’t nothin’ happening.
We’re not finding nothin’. We seen a few signs,
but just not getting no snakes, so something’s gotta change.
We gotta regroup, do something a little different over here
because we got to catch some snakes.
Give me a boost up here, Aaron.
Just give me a little push on my bottom. Go ahead.
-Ready? -Yup.
There’s a snake!
There’s a snake on the bush, on the palmetto.
-Where? Where? -To the right, to the right.
I’m coming down.
I see it. I see it, right here.
-Wow. -Holy cow.
Can you get me?
Come on now. Hold on, hold on.
Let me get on the other side.
There you go.
Hold on, hold on.
Where’s his head?
Oh, he’s up the tree.
Don’t let him get in that tree, Zak.
He gets in that tree, he’s gone.
I got him, I got him.
I got your heel.
Pass him down, pass him down.
Aah! Come on.
-Coming your way. -Watch your head, Bruce.
Don’t let him hit my face.
Pull! Pull!
-I got him. -He’s coming this way.
Aaron, can you reach his head from down there?
Yeah, he’s wrapped up in the bushes.
Get him from underneath, dude. Yeah, grab his head.
Grab his head right there.
There you go. There you go, Aaron.
I’m gonna let go of this side.
Aaron, you got the snake?
Yup, got it.
Let me pull him through these bushes.
Wait, look what’s coming out of the bushes, dude.
-Check this out. [laughs] -No way.
No way.
-Yeah. -Oh!
He’s the same color as that vine.
You never would’ve seen him.
Heads up.
Got him?
Whoa, whoa. Oh!
-You all right? -Yeah.
This tree climber confirms their theory.
They need to look high and low for the serpents.
Sometimes you walk into these woods over here
and you think you’re in the jungle
in a different country.
You see all kind of animals in the trees over here.
We just gotta follow the food and we’ll catch our snakes.
In with your friend. Come on.
[laughs] How about that?
When are you guys gonna do some of the climbing?
[all laugh]
At the cattle ranch,
while Pickle and Tes continue hunting pythons,
Bill and Troy run lines hoping to catch a calf-hungry gator.
Bill’s buddy, this guy has a real problem.
There’s holes in the river that hold deep water
that are infested with alligators.
Well, this is a deep hole right here.
Oh, yeah.
I’d have figured we’d have one right in here.
There’s nothing on the line. God diggit.
We gonna rebait, we gonna reset.
I can see that oak tree right there on the other side,
the overpass on the right.
-Completely out of the water. -Yup.
Motherfricker.
Man, we wasting a lot of time.
There’s nothin’ on it?
Son of a bitch.
Damn!
The water levels are low.
There’s a few pockets in here with deep water.
Well, we put about a dozen or so lines out
and ran ’em and didn’t have anything.
Look like we might have a crime scene, Bill.
-Yeah. -I don’t see a gator,
but things are out of order.
This isn’t working.
-Nothin’ on it? -Popped the line.
Motherfricker.
We not finding nothin’. We can’t keep wasting--
I mean, we want to catch ’em for the rancher,
but, man, we wasting a lot of time.
I know of a lake
that’s just on the northern boundary of the property,
so I wanted to take the boat out there
and maybe do some night harpooning.
We need to go back tonight.
Yeah, sounds like a plan.
All right. Let’s get out of here.
Meanwhile, with seven pythons bagged...
Where they at, Tes?
They’re all over the place.
Pickle and Tes look for the five more they need.
[bang] Whoa, girl.
Me and Tes decide
that we’re gonna go ride around on the buggy
and just see what we can see from the land,
and she drives like a bat out of hell.
She’s just flying around these turns
like she absolutely knows where she’s going.
Pickle!
We’re not gonna be able to get through here.
Back up.
Look!
Oh, my God.
-Holy crap. -It’s just sitting there.
Okay, hold on.
Ooh.
Are you getting in the tree?
I mean, what’re we gonna do, just leave him up there?
Gol.
I don’t even know what to do right now.
-Hold on. I got an idea. -Okay, okay.
Are you pulling up?
-I got its tail. -Hold on. Unh!
Hold on, Pickle, it’s moving, it’s moving.
I’m gonna try to keep this one looking this way.
-Be careful. Be careful. -Uh!
Hold on. I’m gonna let it--
Ooh, watch it.
I think he wants to be down there.
Be careful.
He’ll just snap at anything.
Look out, look out.
Uh!
Watch it!
Aah!
Watch it!
-Look out, look out. -Aah!
I don’t even know what to do. Try to keep him--
-Let me just try-- -Don’t let him get back up here.
Pickle, Pickle, watch it.
-Oh. Uh! -Be careful, careful.
Watch him. He’s gonna-- might try to strike at you.
-Be careful. -Can you try to get him
on the log--on the tree?
-Yeah, yeah, yeah. -Whoa, watch him, watch him.
Shoot, shoot.
-Oh, God. -Aah! Aah!
Aah!
There he goes. This is your chance.
-Ready? Get him. Ready? -Yeah, yeah!
-Whew! -Uh-uh!
He’s hung up on me.
Aah!
-Aah! -Don’t let him get you.
All right, now what?
-Just give me the whole snake. -Right.
-Give me the tail. -You got him?
I got him.
Ooh, Tes.
Do you see a bag down there?
Get down, Tes.
-Yeah, I got a bag in the back. -Okay.
Get the bag. Hurry, he’s twisting.
Yup, yup, yup.
-Okay, can you drop it in here? -Yeah.
Yeah, there you go, there you go.
-You got it? -Yeah, I got the head.
-Good. Perfect. -Good.
-Girl! -Perfect.
Oh, my God.
Up in a tree?
[both laugh]
One successful catch right off the bat.
Teamwork at its best.
Whoo! Snake hunting, climbing trees.
Girl, that got my heart going.
Lord have mercy.
30 miles west...
I can see you a mile away, Ri.
Dusty’s trying out his innovative new plan
for lighting up snakes at night.
I wasn’t sure if the lights were gonna mess her up, you know,
by her seeing shadows or the lights, you know.
But she’s like a Robo-Ri, man. It’s awesome, man.
I can’t believe I didn’t think of it before.
Where’s that snake?
Where they at, Ri?
Where’s that snake?
[Riley barks]
What you got, Ri? Talk to me.
Hang on, Ri. What you got? Wait up.
Ooh, ooh, ooh. [Riley barking]
Good girl. Way to find that snake.
Get back, Ri.
Good girl, good girl. Whoa!
Good girl, Ri.
Get back, get back, get back, Ri.
Watch out. [Riley barking]
Watch out, Ri. Watch out, Riley.
Watch it, Riley. Watch it, Riley.
Oh! Watch it, Ri.
Get back. Get back, Ri.
Oh!
I got it. I got it, Ri.
Aah! Yeah!
Whoo! I got it, Ri.
I got it. Good girl, good girl.
Good girl. Hey, hey, hey.
Caught snake, caught snake.
Give me that bag, Ri.
Aah!
Whoo!
Good girl, Ri.
I didn’t know
how you could get any better than you already were,
but this new setup, son, we’re unstoppable.
This nine-footer is proof of concept for Dusty’s invention.
You get in that tall grass, son,
that snake right there will just disa-frickin’-ppear on you, bud.
The only way you’re gonna find it
is by stepping on it barefoot or something like that.
But with them lights on her back,
it helped me see her, helped me see the snake.
Frickin’ perfect.
Whoo! Come on, Ri!
Let’s go celebrate, baby, with some milk and cookies.
Whoo!
Further north, while Bill preps for the gator hunt,
Troy hopes to reach his goal
of 12 snakes between the two teams.
Whoo-ooh.
This is a snake paradise if I ever saw one.
It’s getting late. I’m getting burned out.
We up to 10 or 11 snakes.
We gotta catch one more snake.
We can’t stop now.
This is a jungle in here.
This is perfect to hide any kind, any size snake
they have back here.
Oh, [bleep]!
Snake, snake, snake, snake!
Whoo! Look at the size of this thing.
Whoa, Lord have mercy.
Ooh-hoo-hoo-hoo.
Damn, look at how dark this snake is.
Damn, I can’t get him out of this grass.
Oh, trying to go in the hole.
They got a hole right there.
He’s trying to go in the hole.
I figured that’s what it was doing.
Uh-oh, he’s disappearing, disappearing in the grass.
Oh-whoo!
Uh-uh. You ain’t goin’ in them woods.
Oh, no, buster, you ain’t gettin’ in there.
Ay-yi-yi-yi!
Don’t panic, Troy Landry.
Don’t panic. Gotta calm down.
Oh! Whoa! Ay-yi-yi!
Whoo!
That son of a gun.
You ain’t gettin’ away, big boy, I got news for you.
Uh-uh. You ain’t gettin’ in that hole.
Get over here.
Whew. Uh-uh, buster, uh-uh.
Aah!
Uh!
Oh, yeah, oh, yeah.
With 12 snakes bagged,
Troy can shift gears to alligator hunting.
One, two, three.
Ooh, that’s a big snake.
I just happened to see my light shined off of his tail.
Time to go back to hunting alligators.
Oh, I’m wore out.
Further south,
Zak, Aaron, and Bruce
are looking high and low for tree-dwelling pythons.
Viney. Lot of vines in here.
Watch over your head, man.
Tripping over everything.
I’m wore out today.
I got my new knee working,
and it, uh, give me a workout today.
I’m hoping I’m doing better
and keeping up with Zak, you know.
Zak, he’s a go-getter.
I’m trying to stay with him every step.
Guys, hey, check this out.
There’s a snake up here. Come on.
I see him, I see him.
Zak, get up there.
He’s going to the other tree, dude.
Grab him.
Here, come below me, come below me.
Are you ready?
-Whoa! -Yeow!
-Oh! -Let him go.
-Whoa! -He’s holding on.
Drop it, drop the tail.
I got it, I got his tail.
You got him?
Hold on, Bruce, just hold on.
I’m trying to. He’s pulling hard, though.
Whoa, whoa.
I got him, I got him.
I don’t know what we’re gonna do now.
Unwrap him, unwrap him.
-Ready? -Man, this thing’s crazy.
-He’s grabbing hold. -Give that thing to Bruce.
-I got it, I got it, I got it. -You got it?
-Ready? -I got something.
Aah! Aah! Oh, man!
You got him?
-No! -You all right?
Put your hands on him. I’m coming down.
-I got it. I got his tail. -Come on, Zak.
Where’s his head?
Whoa! He’s right here. He’s right here!
Watch him!
Grab him, grab him. He’s right there.
-Ready? Ready? -Yeah!
Oh, wow.
-Look at him. -Dude.
Holy cow.
Gol!
How about that, boys?
Yeah, man.
-He’s fixin’ to lose him again. -Nope, nope.
This beast brings their haul to eight
and makes for a sweet farewell to Aaron.
-Hey, dude, fabulous. Whoo-hoo!
-Come on! -This has been so awesome
to come down here and help my old buddy Zak out.
We collected a lot of snakes out of the Everglades.
We made a little bit of change.
I love catching snakes, I love hunting.
I’ve done it all my life.
However, I gotta get out of here.
I gotta get back to work.
Way to go, boys.
Out here in the Bruce honey hole,
the Brucie hole.
[laughs]
It’s deep and dark.
[all laugh]
At the ranch,
after coming up empty-handed earlier in the day,
Bill and Troy have a second go at the calf-eater
using a traditional Florida method of alligator hunting:
harpooning.
Well, basically you have an aluminum pole,
and it has a driver on the end of it
and a dart that fits on it,
which is attached to a cable and a line and a float.
You ram it into the alligator, let him take off,
and you fight him and wear him down.
Bring him up close to the boat
and use a bang stick to put him down.
Boy, look, it sure is interesting
the way y’all do it over here in Florida
with the bang stick and the harpoon.
That’s totally different than what we do at home.
Yeah, that’s how I grew up doing it.
In Louisiana, we don’t harpoon alligators.
It’s illegal to hunt ’em at night.
In Florida, until just recently,
you could only hunt ’em at night.
So Bill and a bunch of other guys I know from here,
that’s how they hunt ’em.
They harpoon ’em at night.
There’s only 15 inches of water.
Yeah, it’s real shallow.
At home for sure,
you’d never find a big alligator in shallow water
unless it’s mating season.
Look at that one.
That look like it could be the calf-eater.
Yup. Hard right.
We gotta hurry. It’s do or die, buddy.
Throw, Bill, throw.
-Uh! -Whoo! We got him!
Whoa, stop, Bill, stop.
Let it go, let it go. Give him the slack.
Ho-ho! That’s a mean one, huh?
We gotta catch up with him now, Bill.
Yeah, we gotta catch him before he gets into that grass.
Grab it, Bill, grab it.
Got it.
-All right, big buddy. -All right, here we go.
Whoo! Give me the line and get the gun.
Get ready, Bill.
Whoo! Watch him, Bill!
Whoo!
Shoot him!
Shoot him, Bill, shoot him!
Watch it, Bill, watch it.
Whoo!
-Oh, watch it. -He’s breaking his teeth.
That thing is crazy.
-You seen that? -Crazy, yeah.
We gotta hurry up and shoot this thing, Bill.
Quit playing around. Watch him!
Whoo! Watch him, Bill.
Give me a shot.
Shoot him!
Shoot!
Uh!
[gunshot] Whoo!
Whoo-hoo-hoo!
We got one now, buddy.
Oh, yeah.
See? That old Florida harpoon trick works.
When you can get up to ’em, you can harpoon them.
All right, big buddy.
Right here. Let’s get another one.
Whoo! Watch it, Bill. Hold on.
-He’s in front of the boat.
There it is, there it is.
Got it.
Watch it!
Yee-haw!
Whoo! Watch it, Bill!
I got it, Bill. You handle the gun.
-Aah! -Watch him.
Oh, my God, he almost bit my leg.
Whoo!
Give me a shot.
Whoa! Shoot! Shoot him!
Shoot him! Watch it!
Whoo! Get the shot, hurry!
All right. [gunshot]
Whoo!
Hell, yeah.
We harpooned two alligators.
They’re about six foot long,
and I promise you, neither one of these
or both of these together couldn’t kill a calf.
I don’t really think they’re big enough to be the calf-eaters,
but we did get a couple.
Yeah.
Two hours later,
after Bill and Troy’s failed attempts
to catch the calf-eater,
Pickle and Tes run the lines one more time.
You’ll see their eyes glowing.
Okay.
Would that be an alligator?
Is he gonna flip this boat?
I hope not, Tes.
I’ve never alligator hunted before.
She’s obviously a master at it.
She’s learned from the best, so I know I’m in good hands.
I’m a little nervous because it is something that’s new,
but also because it’s dark and it’s nighttime.
I see the line. You see the line, Tes?
-No, I don’t. -Shine it to the left.
-There’s a black line. -Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
-Coming down out the tree. -Yeah, I’m seeing it.
-See how it’s a little tight? -Uh-huh.
We got something on there.
-Holy crap. -Holy crap, girl.
That’s a big alligator.
I gotta fight that?
Yes, you gotta fight that.
[laughs]
-Oh, my God. -Oh, my God.
Go get the gun, Pickle, get the gun.
Look at this thing.
-That’s a good one. -Whoo! God!
Watch your fingers.
Get him, get him, get him.
Watch it, watch it, watch him.
He’s all up in this stuff.
Oh!
Watch it, girl, watch it. We don’t wanna break that line.
Whoo, don’t let him pop it.
He’s all under this stuff.
He’s under that log right there.
Holy crap.
Hold on to him, hold on to him.
Don’t let him go.
-Push this, please. -Yup.
[snap] Oh, [bleep], no!
-No! -The [bleep] line broke.
-Watch out. -Yup, yup, yup.
I see his tail still.
-Tes, is this him? Is this him? -Where? Where?
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
That’s him, that’s the one.
He’s right here.
Tes, you got to shoot him.
You’re gonna have to shoot him.
You popped it, buddy,
but you’re coming home with us.
[gunshot]
Oh, my God, Tes. Oh!
-I can’t believe he got off. -Give me five.
Oh!
This is a trophy.
That’s crazy when he popped the line, though.
Isn’t that epic? Usually you lose them.
That don’t happen every day.
-He got stuck in there. -That was rare.
He thought he was hiding underneath that log right there.
All right, now I’m gonna really need your help with this one.
Yup. Hold on.
Remember we gotta get his head in the boat first.
-Yup. -Okay.
-We gonna go up and over. -And over.
One, two, three.
Okay. Whew.
This is a big, big alligator.
Roll, roll, roll, roll, roll.
I’ve been cursing this shallow river all night,
but it actually ended up being an advantage for me.
Because if the river wasn’t so shallow,
this alligator would’ve got away from us.
This prehistoric beast comes in at just over 11 feet,
a good chance it’s the calf-eater.
And I have never hunted gators this big
out of a boat like this.
Double high five.
Holy hell.
My adrenaline’s running. I’m pumped, you know.
We can kinda check that box for getting the calf-eater,
so I’m ecstatic.
Let’s get outta here.
As morning rolls around...
Come on, guys.
We’re gonna have some fun, play some hide and seek.
What do you think?
After the success of his night hunt with Riley,
Dusty’s inspired to train his other dogs
in the art of sniffing out the pythons.
[dogs bark]
Hey, not yet, not yet, Murphy.
Murphy, chill out.
Cypress, Sippy, this isn’t playtime.
Got the new young gun Murphy, son,
but his brain is so scattered
I can’t get him to constipate on anything.
And then I got my little sweetpea Cypress.
I’m not real sure on her name yet.
She’s got a bunch of names,
so one of them is gonna stick sooner or later.
Put a little bit of this pheromone on here.
The idea is we’re gonna drag this snake bag around the yard,
and the dogs will put their nose to the ground, son,
and follow it right where it’s gonna go.
Just some training to do
for out in the field when they get on a real snake.
I’ll be right back. Don’t watch.
Dragging that bag, it leaves a scent,
and them frickin’ dogs, the noses are amazing.
They can smell a thousand more times than we can, son.
Used for tracking, beagles have a sense of smell
10,000 times better than humans.
They can be trained to detect complex odors,
including certain cancers, drugs, and bombs.
It’s just like hiding Easter eggs, you know.
I’m not gonna hide it deep.
I’m just gonna hide it right on the edge over here.
They’re gonna follow Riley anyhow,
and that’s pretty much what it is.
Because I want them just to learn by her actions
and learn from her.
And she’s real helpful.
She’s gonna pass on that God-given talent that she’s got
to the next generation.
I’m gonna pour a little bit of this on this tree, too,
just to really let it pop.
[sniffs] Oh.
Well, the trap is set.
It’s playtime.
You guys ready?
Where’s Murphy? Murphy!
Murphy! Murphy!
[bleep].
Murphy!
Hey!
Murphy!
His dog Murphy has gone missing.
Son, he’s on that deer scent.
He’s frickin’ gone. A deer was just here.
Aah!
Man, there’s frickin’ panthers out here, alligators, pythons.
He’s a frickin’ snack for all that.
I gotta get my frickin’ dog back, man.
Is that paw prints?
Looks like dog. That’s dog.
Murphy!
This ain’t just my teammate. This is my child.
Murphy!
Come on, boy!
Murphy!
[echoing] Murphy!
He’s gone. This is not good.
If anything happens to these dogs, man, it’s on me.
Oh.
[bleep].
[bark]
Murphy.
[bark]
Murphy.
Where have you been?
What did you roll in?
You stink, Murphy.
What did you get into?
You stink. You need a bath.
Come on, you old stinky boy.
[laughs]
Oh.
You had me worried.
Don’t do that to your daddy.
At least bark and let him know where you’re at.
Aw, you’re gonna give me a heart attack.
Back on the ranch...
What you think about that?
Pickle and Tes arrive with the calf-eater.
Good job, ladies.
Hell, yeah.
Not too bad, right?
Big alligator.
Y’all got that rascal, huh?
That’s frickin’ nice.
Yeah, I would think he could eat a calf.
Thank God she knows what she’s doing,
so she gave me some good direction.
Aw, thanks.
What do you think, Jake? Is that him?
I’m pretty sure that’s him.
Look at the feet on it, you know.
Not eating any more calf legs anymore.
-Nope. -That’s a young alligator.
How old do you think he is?
Maybe 20-year-old alligator.
-That’s young? -Yeah.
How long do they live?
-A hundred years. -Holy cow.
But for him to be after calves that young,
would’ve ate so many in the next 20 years,
it’d have been unreal, ’cause he just started that,
I’m sure, the last couple of years.
It feels great not only to, like,
have had such a successful first time,
but to have gotten these out of the creek.
This really is going to help the ranch
and hopefully keep everybody safe.
We’ve done all we can at the ranch.
We gotta head back to the Everglades.
To celebrate their victory,
the hunters gather to enjoy a Florida delicacy.
-Thank you so much. -Surprise.
Oh, yeah.
Those things are beautiful, aren’t they?
What y’all got?
-We got stone crab claws. -Ooh, whoo.
You pulled up at the right time.
We’ve been working all afternoon.
We could smell it.
We followed the trail.
-Get you a claw. -What’s happening, big buddy?
The season so far has been phenomenal.
The Cajun Navy’s doing pretty darn good.
They’re getting used to Florida,
learning our swamps down here,
and doing a fantastic job.
-Mmm. -All right.
Have you ever had stone crab?
Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
Mm-hmm. C’est bon, man. It’s good.
-Yeah. -Not too bad, huh?
I really appreciate these stone crabs here,
and they are delicious.
But what I really wanna try while I’m down here
is some iguana.
-Iguana? -Yes, sir.
All right.
I think the iguana would be good
if it was cleaned good and cooked right.
Mm-hmm.
Just like alligator, you know?
Chicken of the swamp, I think they call it.
-They do not. -Yeah, I think so.
No? [laughs]
The more time we spend together, the closer we are.
We all working, we’re all away from our families,
and so let’s keep a smile on our face
and put some good work ethic in.
Be proud of what we doing here.
You want some dipping sauce?
Nah.