The hunt for invasive Burmese pythons
enters the final stretch.
They are back here. Keep your eyes peeled.
While some hunters battle the heat...
Boy, that temperature sure jumped up.
I don't know how anything survives out here.
others follow desperate leads...
Where you going? It's too thick in here.
...and run into dead ends.
Not again, Murphy! Murphy!
But wherever they go...
Dude, look at the snake over here.
The serpents...
Watch it, Bill. Her face is right here.
Aah! You mother[bleep].
...are waiting.
-Oh! -Now we're hitting the jackpot.
Oh!
-Whoa! -Watch out!
You got the tail? Aah!
-Pull him back. -You got it?
Watch him, watch him! Aah!
Deep in the northern Everglades...
It's too thick in here, man.
Where you going? You have nowhere to go.
I'm trying to get around them trees.
A tip from a local bush pilot
has Troy and Pickle heading into the unknown.
Pee-wee and I, we trying to get to this place
that we was told by a local pilot
that there's an opening
about the size of two or three football fields.
He sees snakes in that football field.
Watch yourself.
Jeez, dude.
I'm gonna get us outta here.
If we could get back there,
we might catch 15 or 20 snakes in one day.
By the time we get back there, though,
we're gonna have to double up on our snakes
to make up for the time we wasted.
I know, Pee-wee, I know it.
The risk of going out into this thick jungle,
not really know what direction we headed in
and just hoping on a prayer here
that we're gonna catch a bunch of snakes,
we're wasting the entire day,
and I just don't think it's worth it.
We're gonna have to catch 12
by the time we get to this clearing.
We'll park right here before it gets too late,
and we're gonna head straight north.
Let's go.
If we can get there,
I think it's gonna be well worth it.
But we gotta get there first.
Oh, look, snake, snake, snake!
Oh, Pee-wee! Oh, [bleep].
Watch him. Grab the tail, grab the tail.
Oh, watch him. Pull him out, pull him out.
Aah!
Now we're hitting the jackpot.
Oh, my God.
Oh!
Watch him, watch him.
We gotta wear him down, we gotta wear him down.
Don't get in front of that head.
Try to stay behind it.
Just tell us when you're-- Ay-yi-yi!
Ay-yi, that came close.
Ay-yi-yi!
Get ready, Pee-wee, get ready.
Watch him,Pee-wee. Ay-yi-yi.
Watch him, Pee-wee. We gotta wear him out.
Gotta wear him--ay-yi-yi!
Gotta wear him out, Pee-wee.
Oh! Good job, good job, good job.
Hey, hey. Whoo!
Whoo-hoo.
-Got it? -I got him.
-He's doing a lot of twisting. -Oh, Lord have mercy.
I wanna learn as many new areas as I can,
because we might catch twice as many
if we can get through the jungle.
So this is just another new area
for us to learn and put in our back pocket.
Hopefully this is the first of at least a dozen, huh?
Yeah, it's gotta be.
30 miles south, solo hunter Dusty Crum
gears up for a special day.
I'm super stoked about today, man.
It's Murphy's birthday. He's two years old.
I went into town and got him a special birthday cake,
a burger cake.
You know, since dogs can't eat cake,
I got him a hamburger from one of his favorite places.
He's the one that needs to carry on the bloodline.
My little baby boy-- two years old today, son.
Yeah, you know, as much as I wanna give him cake and stuff,
I know it ain't probably the best for him.
And I'm trying to raise
some lean, mean, hunting machine dogs.
You know what I'm saying?
The best snake hunters in the world.
So I gotta give 'em a proper diet.
[sighs]
Murphy. It's your birthday, Murphy.
Come, Murph, it's your birthday!
Murphy!
Murph!
Not again, Murphy.
Murphy!
Come on, man, it's your birthday.
-Murphy! -[barking]
Aah! Murph!
Murphy! Hey, Murphy! [barking]
While Dusty's oldest dog Riley is a seasoned snake hunter,
his middle dog Murphy is a work in progress.
When Murphy was a puppy,
he was real, real interested with the snakes.
One of them tried to strike him one time or something,
and he just put his little tail between his legs, son,
and that was it.
He don't want nothin' to do with them no more.
He's scared of snakes,
but that don't mean the snakes can't get him.
Golly. [barking]
I hear him.
He just keeps getting further and further away.
He'll run clean out of the county.
Murph!
Murph! Hey!
I don't hear him no more.
Frickin' went silent.
[sighs] I hope something didn't get him.
Come on, Murph!
Meanwhile...
It's hotter than Africa out here.
Veteran hunter Bill Booth and his partner Tes Lee
prepare to hunt Burmese pythons
drawn to the water after a recent rainstorm.
You know, usually by now,
we're starting to get the heavy rains
and starting to get some water on the ground.
And you're hunting, 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.
We'll cut out and go through this trail right here.
Oh!
Boy, that temperature sure jumped up, didn't it?
After it rains, you just get this rush of penetrating heat.
Man, it's hot.
I don't know how anything survives out here.
Right here. It's behind this tree.
Oh, yeah.
-Do you see him? -Yeah.
-Let me get his tail. -Okay.
I got him.
-Oh! -Whoa! Whew!
Watch out. Don't trip on that tree.
He's not happy.
-He is all charged up. -Nope. Nope, nope, nope.
-Oh! -No!
-Ooh! -[laughs]
-Uh-oh. -He is mad.
We gotta tire this one out.
He just wants to bite everything.
Golly!
He's got his eye on you. All right.
Step over to your right a little bit
so he follows you.
-He's looking at me now. -Okay, okay.
Get him, get him.
Good job, Tes.
Whew. [laughs]
All right, let's get this thing bagged up.
All right.
This eight-footer is worth $250,
a good way to kick off the day,
but the oppressive heat forces a change in plans.
Whew!
What do you think about maybe pausing
while the sun's directly above us?
Yeah, we gotta get hydrated.
Let's do it.
17 miles away...
[sighs]
[exhales]
-You all right? -Yeah.
Bruce and Zak brave the blazing sun
in an area called the Dead Zone.
Damn, Bruce.
I can't get over how dry it is here.
We haven't found anything, man.
I know.
I'll tell you what,
I'm surprised it's not dead dried-up
-on the side of these snakes. -Yeah.
Today Bruce and I are hunting a place called the Dead Zone.
This little cypress forest is actually a wetlands,
and it can get really wet back here.
It can be two, even three feet deep.
But it can also get super dry
when it's too, too hot out there.
Snakes love the heat, but at the same time,
heat like this can overheat their bodies.
And once their brain gets past a certain temperature,
they die just like anybody else.
Snakes assume the temperature of their environment.
As the air and ground heat up,
they can struggle to regulate their body temperature.
If they heat up too much, finding shade to cool off
may be a matter of life and death.
Look at this, Bruce. Damn.
That's usually underwater.
There should be water right here.
Yeah, it's crusty enough.
No moisture at all.
Whew!
It's extra, extra super hot.
It's just tough to walk.
It's got to be at least 102, 103 degrees out here.
Definitely feels like it. I mean, damn.
What the sun's putting off versus how hot the ground is,
I feel like we're in-- in a damn oven.
Yup. I don't believe we got no animals here.
If you ain't got no animals, the snakes ain't here.
They somewhere else.
Yeah, there's nothing for 'em to eat.
I think it's kinda like the alligators.
When it gets real hot like this, these alligators lay up.
They get in the cool water,
they go deep or get in shady areas,
and I think these snakes are doing the same thing.
Maybe we hit them trees over there, huh?
Yeah, I think that's a good idea.
Feels like it's 20 degrees cooler.
I know. That little bit of shade, man,
does a hell of a difference.
Yup, big difference.
God.
Bruce, up ahead of you!
Snake, snake!
-Golly. -Come on.
I got his tail.
Stretch him out, stretch him out that way.
Whoa!
Watch out, watch out, he doesn't like that. Oh!
I got him. No, I don't.
No, I don't, no, I don't.
Come on.
Get him.
Ride him out, ride him out.
Come on, get over here.
Damn it, damn it, damn it! Aah!
Damn it!
-Come on. -Get him.
I'm not getting that thing that quick.
Ride him out, ride him out.
-Get him following you, man. -Aah!
-He's pissed. -Hurry up. He's going up.
-Be careful. -Whoa!
Watch out. He doesn't like that. Whoa!
Damn. Come on, Bruce.
-Aah! -That was close.
Yeah, he's chasing me, man.
Whoo! Don't let him go up the tree.
Aah!
Whoo!
Going back up the tree.
Hurry up. He's going up.
Got him, got him, got him. Aah.
Coming back your way. He's headed up.
-Oh, oh, oh. -Off the tree, off the tree.
I got it, I got it, I got it, I got it.
Grab him, grab him.
Ooh, I got him, I got him. Ooh, golly.
Nice hands, Brucie.
Whoo! Let's get a sack and put him in there, man.
Grab a sack, come on.
I tell you what, you're right.
These bad boys are back here in the shade.
The heat's too much for them and too much for us.
Just like a gator.
As soon as we walk into the thick stuff,
there's a snake laying right there.
And that pretty much proves my point,
what I'm talking about. Here it is.
We're gonna catch this snake, sack him up
and try to catch a bunch more.
-You got it? -Yeah.
Come on, dude.
Looking good over here.
It's nice that it's not as hot.
Holy cow.
I don't know if I could've handled it
out there much longer.
51 miles north,
Troy and Pickle trek across a thick palmetto jungle
as they try to reach a clearing infested with pythons.
Dude, all of the palm trees they got back here, huh?
You notice how different they are here?
It's not as thick on the bottom,
but the trees are a lot, lot taller.
Yeah.
Look how tall. It's like a canopy.
Look how they're starting to open up.
High elevation.
You know, we could be getting kinda close to that opening.
In my mind, this is like a little getaway,
like a little paradise.
The less people go in the area,
the more wildlife they gonna have.
That's how it is everywhere.
Whether in Louisiana or in Montana,
it don't matter.
So I'm determined to get to that opening.
Gotta go a little bit more-- that way, Pee-wee.
This way. Yeah.
Little bit more to the right.
Should be easier for us to spot 'em
because it's not as thick.
Oh, look.
What's that there? What is that?
-Hey. Hey, -What? What?
-A snake, a snake. -Where?
A snake. Right here, right here.
Oh, Lord, look right here.
I see it. I see it.
-Watch it. Watch it. -Oh, my God.
Watch him. Don't let him get away.
Grab that tail.
Watch it, watch it.
Aah! Aah!
Watch it, watch it.
Watch him, watch him.
Oh, watch him, watch him.
Watch him.
Give me the tail, give me the tail, give me the tail.
[grunts] Watch him, Pee-wee, watch him.
Look at me.
Aah! Get him, get him, get him.
-Aah! -Yeah!
Got him!
-Whoo. -Whew.
-He's mean, huh? -It's a young one, yeah.
A juvenile.
Pick it up a little bit.
There we go.
-Ready? -Yeah.
One, two, three.
Ooh, ooh.
Hey, I guarantee you, that pilot is right.
This is gonna be a hatchery right here.
I know we getting close, but I wanna find that clearing.
I bet if we come back tomorrow, we'll know exactly where to go,
we won't waste half of the day.
Look, what is that?
-Huh? -Look.
Oh, look, Mr. Troy.
Look at the onions.
Look at this.
This is what we've been looking for all along right here.
When we walk out to this field,
it just looked like the Garden of Eden.
I could see the snake trails running all through here.
So let's get in the middle of this
and see how many we can catch.
Because we gotta definitely make up our quota now.
30 miles south,
Dusty's following the tracks of his dog Murphy.
He ain't barkin' no more.
That little frickin' sucker, son.
He went quiet on me,
church-moused, couldn't find his ass.
You know, it's like dang teenagers
trying to sneak out your windows and stuff, you know.
Look, look. That's his paw print.
-[dog barks] -Yup, yup!
There he is, there he is. Come on.
-[barks] Murph!
[barking continues]
What're you doing, Murph?
Murphy, golly.
Murphy!
What in the hell, Murph?
Where have you been?
Holy cow, Murph.
Whoo!
Whoa!
You had your daddy worried sick.
Why weren't you barking, letting me know where you're at?
Good boy.
Murphy, you found a snake on your birthday.
Whoa, Murph.
Huh?
Uh-oh. Watch out, Murph.
Good boy, Murph, good boy.
Good boy, Murphy.
Ready, Murph?
Ahh. Got it.
Whoo!
Thank God.
Oh, Murphy,
I can't believe it, boy.
Finally got him, son,
and he's sitting there next to the frickin' snake
like a pointer dog or something would do.
I don't know what to think, son.
I'm impressed, but at the same time, I'm puzzled.
He's trying to play tricks on me or what,
like saying, you know, "Ha-ha, Dad,
I could do this all along" kinda thing.
The bottom line is it's good to see
his little furry face again.
You know what I mean?
Every time I lose him, you know,
it's like all bad thoughts, bad things go through my head,
and it's not a good feeling.
We gotta go. We gotta go celebrate, baby.
It's your birthday. Come on, Murph.
I got you a cake, and you got me a present too, boy.
Come on, Murph. Murphy, let's go.
In the Cypress Swamp...
You hungry?
Yeah, I could eat.
Bill and Tes wait out the oppressive heat
under the cover of their buggy.
Having a nice chicken dinner
out in the Everglades sunset.
Mmm, that's the stuff.
That's what we're doing with that?
Yeah, you gotta feed the raccoons something.
Mm. Okay.
You know, I used to have a pet raccoon.
-You did? -Well, not a pet raccoon.
It was a foster raccoon.
Oh, an orphan?
It fell out of a tree.
We orphaned him... or we rescued him.
His name was Theo.
We took him to a raccoon rehab facility.
They have those?
Yeah, they have them, and we took him there.
And they're like, yeah, so we're not gonna be able to let him go
because he's like 75% blind.
The whole time, we thought
he was just, like, an idiot baby raccoon
running into walls, screaming when you walk away.
But the poor thing was blind.
So you never even knew he was-- You couldn't tell.
I didn't know he was blind, no.
I just thought he was, like, a naive baby, you know.
Mm-hmm.
Anyways, he's living all of his days
with, like, a proper, like, veterinarian.
He's got, like, a live-in girlfriend now
who also has, like, a little disability.
It's the cutest story ever.
-Theo the raccoon. -Theo.
He was so sweet.
Can I use this for...
Hopefully it's a fresh one. [laughs]
It's got scat on it, but you know what?
[both laugh]
You need to borrow my napkin?
No. I'm gonna use my pants.
Oh, my God.
Down in the Dead Zone,
after capturing their first python,
it's been hours since Bruce and Zak have seen any snakes.
We haven't seen anything since that first snake, dude.
I know.
We've been traveling for hours,
and these snakes definitely went into hiding,
and it's gonna take a lot of searching
if we're gonna get any luck.
It might just be too hot to catch snakes today, dude.
They might not move at all.
Keep pushing on. It looks greener this way.
I mean, we did catch that one,
but I think we might've just got lucky, dude.
Come on, we gonna get lucky some more.
We might wanna just call it quits
till nighttime at least, man.
Keep moving. Keep pushing though.
-You sure? -Yup.
All right, buddy.
When you're going through the bad stuff,
just keep on going.
Gotta get better, right? Can't get worse.
As long as you're up for it, I'll be right there beside you.
I'm right here.
Hey! I might've spoke a little too soon, buddy.
-Come on. -Ooh. Golly.
Aah! He's right here, right here, right here.
Come on. He's exposed now.
Grab him, grab him. Hurry up, hurry up. Whoa!
Watch it, Zak!
This dude looks mean.
Stretch him out, Bruce. Come on.
Got him, got him.
Damn it.
Get his attention, man. Come on.
-Give me his tail. -You got it?
Yeah, I got it. Get his attention, man, come on.
Aah!
Watch it.
Come on. Damn.
-Damn it, Bruce. Come on. -You got it?
Whoo!
Well, it's crazy.
-Oh! -Aah!
Get him up, get him up. Come on.
Whoa!
Grab him.
Come on, Bruce, grab that thing.
Right there for you, grab him, grab him.
Grab him before he hits me, man.
Grab him. Oh!
Damn it.
Grab him, he's right there by you.
Whoa, he's about to bite me, man.
Hurry up. Pull him back Aah!
You all right?
Dude, he almost got you.
Good alley-oop, buddy.
[laughs]
-Nice one. -Dude! That worked out good.
-Finally. -Oh!
Whew. You all right?
Yeah, I got him.
We're good?
Throw it, got it.
Ain't no use hangin' it. Let's bring it back.
Tell you what, that was a lot of hours and time,
but at least we got something out of it, huh?
Two's better than none.
-Yes, sir. -Let's go.
Back through this way, I think.
Yes, sir.
Meanwhile, in the northern Glades...
You go around this way. I'ma come around this way.
If you see a big one, holler at me.
Troy and Pickle have found the clearing.
Now they have to find the snakes.
We found a few snakes walking through the jungle,
and then we finally got to the opening.
But we started walking around the opening
and looking at the knocked-down trees
and underneath the real thick brush and all.
We not finding no snakes.
-Hey, P. -What?
You can see they've been all over in here.
I don't see any. You?
No, I don't see no snakes, man.
Oh, but they got trails.
They got tunnels going all over underneath this big tree.
Oh, yeah.
They got a good hole right here.
I guarantee they got four or five
listening to us right now under here.
I think we oughta hit the perimeter,
maybe go in the woodline a little bit.
I think we might've scared 'em all to the edges.
You know what I'm saying?
I think that's what we need to do.
We've been walking around this clearing,
and we're not catching anything.
All of these snakes were in the center of this clearing,
and we scared them out to the perimeter.
So my idea, we're gonna hit the side,
we're gonna hit the woodline, and see what we can find
right in the edge of this woodline here.
And I guarantee you that's where they're at.
I mean, they have to be here. There's snake trails everywhere.
We're running out of daylight, like, right now,
and we only got, I think, four snakes,
if I'm counting right.
Man, if I was a snake,
this is the kind of place I'd like to hide in.
Oh, look! Right here, right here!
-What? -Snake! Snake!
Where, Pee-wee, where?
Oh, look, right here, right here.
Oh, my God, look at that thing.
Whoo! Don't let it get away.
Whoa.
-Aah! -Watch it, watch it, watch it!
Watch it.
In a jungle clearing,,,
-Oh! -Aah! Aah!
Stretch him out, Pee-wee, stretch him out.
-Oh! -Aah!
Whoo! He's going after you.
He's going after you.
I told you they'd be right in the woods, huh?
I got her stretched out.
All right, Pee-wee, wear him down.
Wear him down, come on.
Ay-yi-yi-yi!
Damn.
Ooh! He's chasing me, coming after me.
Oh!
Can't even catch the damn thing.
Oh, yeah.
-Whew. -Yeah.
Good job, bud.
[sighs]
Troy's hunch is right.
The snakes are here,
and they're finally onto them.
The edge of the real dirty stuff,
but always staying where we could see the clearing.
And we catching them. That's what it is.
I think they just backed out into the shade,
and they waiting for dark to come out into this open.
I think we oughta just keep working the edge, huh?
-Yeah, I guess. -Let's leave this one out.
We can leave this one out over here.
Put him out where we can see him.
Yup.
Back at Dusty's camp...
Come here, Ri, it's birthday cake.
Murphy's birthday celebration is about to begin.
That little sucker.
I mean, we're gonna have a heck of a party now, you know.
We gotta go celebrate his birthday,
and he just frickin' found a snake, you know.
Murphy, it's your birthday.
You're two today.
Yeah, this is good.
Oh, the whole family's here to celebrate.
Murphy, you gonna blow the candles out?
Good boy, Murphy. Happy birthday, buddy.
♪ Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you ♪
♪ Happy birthday, little Murphy ♪
♪ Happy birthday to you
And many more, Murph.
Well, Murphy, I'm so proud of you, buddy.
You did such a good job.
You've been scared of the snakes,
but today you impressed your old man, son.
I'm proud of you, boy.
I thought you might've been long gone forever, buddy.
Don't scare your daddy like that.
He's too old, son.
He's gonna have a heart attack one of these times.
Come on, Ri.
It's my whole world, you know, my whole heart.
I got all my dogs here on the table, and it's--
We're all together, you know, and it's just us.
You know, we got each other's back.
I love them with all my heart,
and I hope they love me the same.
Nothing like enjoying a good family dinner, you know.
As sunset nears
and the Cypress Swamp cools off,
Bill and Tes venture back out
to look for pythons emerging from their hiding spots.
There's periods where stuff isn't happening
or where you've gotta wait for the weather
or the temperature to be right so that the snakes are moving.
In all aspects of hunting it's that way,
so patience is key.
These woods just go and go and go.
They do.
You could really hide something
you're not supposed to be doing out here.
Oh, you know it.
There's probably dead bodies and stuff out here.
Seriously?
Yeah. Back in the old smuggler days and stuff,
there was all kinds of weird stuff going on out here.
Right there.
There's two. There's one right there, Tes.
There's two?
Holy...
This thing's fired up.
Bill, you got that one over there?
I haven't got him yet, but I'm on it.
Do you want me to come help you?
No, just keep an eye on that one.
Don't let it get away.
Shoot!
Were they breeding... and we interrupted?
Is yours this mad?
Yeah, this one's pissed off over here.
He's wagging his tail like a dog.
He's trying to trick me.
-Oh! -You all right?
That was close.
I can't even get this one's tail. Aah!
Hurry up. I'm gonna need you on this one over here.
I got one.
Bill, you got him?
Yeah, I got him.
We wanna bag him first?
He's not going anywhere. He's mad.
-Oh, he is pissed. -Man.
This could be a breeding pair right here.
They are out of control.
-Okay, you got him? -Yup.
See, that's a little bit of a fatter snake.
That's probably a female and that's a male right there.
-Aah! -[laughs]
-That was close. -Oh, man.
-Almost got me. -That was close.
-Get that tail, Bill. -I got the tail.
You got the tail? You got the tail?
Pull him out. Okay.
Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on.
-Good job, girl, good job. -[laughs]
-Oh, my God. -Oh, man.
-Two. We got the twofer. -We got two.
What the heck?
Oh, man, that's got me going.
-Two of them. Shoot. -That's awesome.
This breeding pair will bring in close to $600,
a reward for the hunters' patience.
Out here, you gotta adapt to what you come upon.
We're out here with one thought in mind,
and it may change halfway through.
Good stuff, Tes, good stuff.
In the Dead Zone...
I've about had enough of this.
Bruce and Zak's resilience was tested during the day,
but nightfall reminds them
why they came here in the first place.
I'll tell you what, caught some frickin' snakes now, man.
Yup.
Soon as that sun went down,
they started flying out of their holes, started eating.
Yup.
It's been a rough day.
I'm talking about sunup till sundown.
But, you know, Brucie
had an extra little gas in his tank today.
And he said, "You know what?
Let's keep pushing, let's keep moving."
I'm happy we stuck it out
because they started coming out big time at night.
-Hey, hey! Come on. Right here. -I'm coming.
That's by you. I got the tail, man.
Pull him back, pull him back. That's a big snake.
He's pissed, he's pissed.
Ow, damn, his tail is sharp, too.
Pull him back, pull him back.
I got him, I got him, I got him.
-Just grab his head already. -I can't.
I can't even get around to him.
Oh!
I don't know which way to go with this thing.
He's going up.
Come on, right there for you, right there.
Grab him, hurry up.
Now, dude. Damn.
-Whoa! -Come on.
Come on, come on, come on, come on.
-Aah! -He almost got you.
Get ready to grab it.
I'm gonna pull it back, you grab it. Ready?
Right now. Grab him, grab his head, grab him!
-Got it. -There you go.
Whoo. I got it, dude.
That's what I'm talking about.
Whew. Dude, man.
Hold on. Come here, let me get your bag.
-Whew. -Give me a bag or two.
With a haul of almost $2,000,
the hunters know they made the right decision
to stick it out in the Dead Zone.
I knew once we got far enough back and it got dark,
we would start catching snakes.
Now we leaving out with eight snakes.
So I'd say that was a good night.
That's a nice snake, ain't he?
-Very nice. Come on. -Pretty.
Be even nicer once he's in the bag and turned into wallets.
I had enough.
Yeah, I bet.
Usually, I don't say that.
Way to go. I was gonna go home, to be honest.
Real happy we stayed out here.
That's just how Bruce and I work, you know.
If I'm feeling down, he picks me up.
If he's feeling down, I put him right on my shoulders,
and he's a big guy.
But, you know, we make it happen,
and we try to make the best of every single day.
All right, I'm right behind you.
That's a long day.
10 miles away...
Ooh, Lord, Pee-wee, I'm getting tired.
It's taken all day, but the clearing is paying off.
I know I got Mr. Troy out here way past his bedtime,
but we got a quota to meet.
We got 10 snakes in the bag.
We need two more, and I'm not giving up.
You took so much time going through all of that thicket.
Our quota today, we should be 12.
Listen, do you know how far we are from the buggy now?
Yeah, yeah, I walked it with you.
If we start walking back,
we might find one or two walking back to the buggy
instead of keep going further and further away from it.
It's almost midnight.
You're just gonna have to stick it out with me tonight.
Oh, Pee-wee, Pee-wee!
Oh, [bleep]. Oh, my God.
What? What? Oh, my goodness.
Look at the size of this thing.
It's a big one, it's a big one.
Look at that thing. Jeez.
I'm glad we didn't turn around.
-You have--Ay-yi-yi! -Watch it.
-Aah! -Aah!
Pee-wee, hey, we have to be
super, super, super careful with this thing.
Oh, my God.
-Don't panic, don't panic. -Yeah, don't panic, okay.
Don't panic.
Look how aggressive it is.
[laughs]
And you was ready to go home.
Look at this thing. Money on the ground.
Yeah, money on the ground,
but we don't have the money in the sack yet.
Aah!
-Aah! -Oh, Lord.
That's the biggest one we've found all day.
Oh, no, he ain't getting away.
Uh-uh. You ain't going in that tree now.
Yeah, get the tail.
This is nothing to play with.
-Ay-yi-yi! Aah! -Did he get you?
Aah! Get away! Aah!
This thing is pissed off at the world.
-Aah! -Watch him.
-Watch her. -Aw, P. Aah!
Watch her!
Oh, my God, I'm gonna get his attention.
Wait for him to look at you.
Good job, good job, good job.
Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo.
One, two, three.
Whew. Oh.
Oh, my God.
Is that a snake or what?
That's the best snake we caught all day.
-One more. -No. Forget it.
This thing was humongous.
I'm talking about a giant.
That snake must weigh 50 or 60 pounds at least.
And now that we caught this,
we gotta carry this big thing all the way back.
Plus, we got snakes along the way we gotta pick up.
So I got enough. We gonna call it a night.
-It's midnight, okay? -Okay.
And we've had a very successful day.
We gonna quit while we ahead.
And we got quite a few of these to pick up.
You wanna keep going? No, I don't think so.
We gotta go back and pick up all them snakes on the way back.
21 miles east...
It's cooled off, but I'm still sweating.
But, man, it is nothing like earlier today.
I've said it all day, I thought I was gonna die.
Bill and Tes have bagged five invasive pythons.
Their decision to wait for the cool of the night has paid off.
Earlier in the day, kinda changed our path
on where we were hunting because we needed some cooler climate.
The snakes just weren't moving.
So as we're walking through the woods,
at night the temperature is wonderful.
This would be great
if we got something that had a whole bunch of eggs.
Oh, Right here, Tes. Big one, big one.
No, it's two.
-It's two? -Whoa.
Are they breeding?
Got two tails over here.
All right, grab one.
-I got the one. -Watch out.
That bigger snake can come back on you.
Watch out.
-He's looking right at me. -Yup.
Shoot. [laughs]
Aah!
Watch it, Bill, watch it.
That one can reach far right there.
We've been scoring these frickin' doubles like crazy.
I can't believe that's what we're finding out here.
Oh, my God.
Look at this. They're fighting each other.
-Why are they doing that? -I don't know.
I thought they were lovers.
Not tonight, they're not.
Watch it, Bill, her face is right there.
Aah! You mother[bleep]!
Watch it, watch it.
-Did you get bit? -I let my guard down.
Yeah, it bit the [bleep] out of me.
Aah! I don't even know how to get away from this one.
Just keep it away from me.
Okay, okay, okay.
-You got a bag? -Yeah.
Just what I wanted, to get bit tonight.
Man, we walked into some angry snakes, that's for sure.
All right, I'm gonna try to catch her.
Watch her. Keep her away from your face.
Okay.
-This frickin' thing. -Holy crap.
Oh, God.
The second breeding pair for the day
rounds up their haul to $1,800, turning around a day
that only a few hours before threatened to be a total wash.
All right, ready?
Jeez. Put this thing to bed.
This has been a day.
Look at that vein blowing up right there.
That whole mouth went crrrk.
I got teeth in my arm. I can feel them.
-Oh, no. -Yeah, look.
Catching what we think these two were doing,
breeding, was great.
It's the weirdest, craziest thing,
this temperature where it's hot to cold, cold to hot.
It looks like they're just really active, and it's crazy
that we're finding them out here in pairs like this.
Watch out that hole right there.
God, the Everglades are a deathtrap.
Thank God that buggy's not too far away.
Over at Troy's camp...
Last time I ate a sweet and sour alligator, we all sat down.
We ate, it was delicious, thanked him for the meal,
and then he told us all it was chicken.
[all laugh]
Pickle's mom has come to visit,
and the whole community has gathered for the occasion.
We'll do frog legs first
and then the alligator legs after.
Hey, look who's here.
Hey, what's up, guys?
What have we got cooking here?
-Josh and Grandpa. -Pickle, Tes.
Hey, all right, all right.
So the Gladesmen are a dying breed.
There's only a few left,
and we've learned from these guys
a lot of new areas where to go hunt for snakes.
I wanted to do something for them.
Old buddy.
Thank you, sir. Appreciate it.
You're very welcome.
-There he is. -He's a good boy.
Tell them the story
of the first day you came alligator hunting with me.
Obviously, you know, we get along great.
I love him to death and he loves me, but--
Who told you that?
[all laugh] Sunup till sundown,
we running alligator lines, you know.
And I came home that first day and I called her
and I cried and I told her that I quit.
But the next morning, I woke up at the ass crack of dawn
and I just told myself that I was gonna make it through.
And I got this and I'm gonna be okay.
And then I fell in love with it,
and I've been doing it ever since.
These people are my adopted family in the Everglades.
I feel you gotta do what you can for the community.
Anybody can take, but it's not everybody that gives back.
Cheers, everybody!
To good food, good food, and good friends.
Yes, sir.
Are you sure about that?