As python season slithers into week two...
They call this a bird sanctuary.
This is the kind of places we gotta protect, Tes.
Hunters brace for battle...
It's a snake. Oh, I missed it!
Here's the swimming hole, Bruce. Ready to go for a swim?
And charge into hostile territory...
-Come on, man, move! -Whoa!
There it is, there it is.
Get back, Ry. Whoa!
Aiming to strike at the perfect time...
-Aah! -Tes, hurry, hurry!
-Where is it? Where is it? -Whoa!
As they put it all on the line...
Snake, snake!
Come on, Brucie! I'm cutting it off!
To save the Everglades.
I got it.
-Oh! -Aah!
In the high grounds where the Everglades wilderness
meets clusters of housing developments...
These pythons are swallowing deer,
-alligators. -I believe it.
A six year old kid, that's too easy.
-Oh, that's nothing. -That's nothing. Hell, no.
Zak Catchem and his partner Bruce Mitchell
are investigating a troubling account from a worried parent.
A local mom told me that she saw
a monster python by a local swimming hole.
It made her so uncomfortable that
she will not have her kids swim there
unless we do something about it.
Our mission today is to go to the swimming hole
and clear out all the pythons in that area,
but especially this big one.
So we're gonna try to find this big snake
and the rest of the snakes around it and head on out.
Using the vast grid of waterways in south Florida
as migration routes,
pythons have now spread beyond the Everglades
and over into virtually all of southwest Florida.
As residential developments
push further into the wilderness,
the encounters between humans and pythons
have increased dramatically.
Look, here we are, Brucie.
See that clear path? The swimming hole's right there.
Yeah.
-That's where we're going? -Yes, sir.
I think a 10-, 12-year-old kid
is nothing for a snake to swallow if they wanted to.
So, you know, I'm worried about them kids.
Until we catch it, them kids can't swim there.
Hell, no. Looks like we got
a lot more ground to cover than I thought,
but if we're gonna find that snake, we just
make our way back into the woods, and we'll cover
this whole side, you know what I mean?
We split up, we'll cover a lot more ground.
-That's a good idea. -I think we should still
stay within earshot.
That was a big snake, you know what I mean?
Excuse me.
It be so thick.
Damn, it's humid already.
Bruce, snake! Snake!
-Where you at? -Right here.
Oh, golly, man.
Yes, sir. Where's the head, where's the head?
Go on the other side, go on the other side.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I see it.
He's all wrapped up.
-Whoa! -Damn.
You keep him distracted. I'm gonna be able
-to grab this, dude. -Okay, yeah.
-Sneak up on that side. -Get him to strike at you
a couple times. There he goes.
There he goes, just like that.
Whoa! He almost got me.
-That was close, dude. -Get her attention.
Get her attention.
She's looking at me. Come on, grab her.
If he gets back in there, it's gonna be really tough
to get him out. Get closer. Touch her body.
-Oh! -Yeah, there you go.
There you go. One more time like that, Bruce.
Grab her, grab her. Fixin' to strike. Grab her, grab her.
You can get her, get her. You got it!
-Dude, dude. Dude. -[laughs]
Yes, yes!
Yes, that was a tricky one.
See that little hole underneath?
This is a female, Bruce.
Capturing this seven-foot breeder is a score,
but what they came here for is bigger.
We catch a solid snake, but...
it's not quite big enough
to match what the mom was describing.
Bruce and I are gonna take all day and all night
to try to find this giant.
And I mean, if that's what it takes,
we wanna give this mom relief
and even more importantly,
take this big girl out of the swamp.
She should not be back here.
Look at this bad girl.
[laughs]
Thirty-one miles east,
Ashley and Kaylyn return to a familiar region.
What do you think you're more afraid of,
being bit by a python
or coming across a bear?
Being bit by a python.
A few days ago...
She's wrapping up, she's wrapping!
The team captured a massive python
on the biggest active nest in Florida history...
I mean, they're huge.
And the company of an angry bear.
[growling]
Now armed with more knowledge
about the area, they're heading back
to explore further.
It's called Bear Ridge because there's a big
black bear population out there,
because of all the wildlife,
the small mammals that are out there.
But that also means it's where the pythons are going, too,
so that's exactly where we're headed.
Bear Ridge in particular, where we're headed out today,
it's a really unique area.
This is a good spot for female pythons.
It's higher ground, lots of flooding around it,
good food source. But at the same time,
there's a competing predator,
and that's our native wild black bears.
So, not only are we out there looking for our pythons
that pose a threat to us and vice versa,
but at the very same time
we have to be watching over our shoulder
for black bears, too.
As Burmese pythons spread
across the Everglades and beyond,
they begin to encroach on areas
occupied by Florida black bears,
whose diet includes deer, raccoons, and hogs,
creating a direct competition for food
between bears and pythons.
You got a gun?
I do. It's back there. You worried?
I mean, I'm not real scared of bears,
but if I don't have a gun, I am.
I'm not really comfortable with any kind of wildlife
that can kill you, especially when you're on their territory.
You're at their house, you know, and especially uninvited,
that's not somewhere that you wanna be.
-Whoo! -There you are.
I got a good feeling.
It's weird how y'all's ground changes
as fast as it does in Mississippi.
Like, we were just walking, and it didn't look
-anything like this. -Yeah.
The slightest bit of elevation,
you get a totally new environment,
and that's why they call it Bear Ridge.
Got rattlesnakes, bears, panthers.
You name it, it's out here.
So, I'm just hoping to find a python.
Whoo. Smell that?
[sniffs]
What is that?
Smells like bear.
Bear have a certain musk
that is just a smell about them when you come across,
and the smell switches from, like, real earthy,
dirt, grainy smells
to, like, a really distinct musk or just stench,
just like a twang, that only people
that have smelled a bear in the wild
know what I'm talking about.
Let's try to get away from the smell,
move in the opposite direction.
If it is a bear, I don't wanna startle her.
Just like the pythons, the bears are having
their baby cubs right now.
You know that's when the attacks start,
when you accidentally startle a mama bear.
-Kaylyn! -Yeah?
-Come here. -You see something?
Yeah, look at this.
I'm coming. What is it?
Come here. I don't know.
It's a snake shed, but I don't know what kind.
-Oh, my gosh, check it out. -Look how big.
-Look at that. -Look at this.
Good eye.
Oh, this is definitely a python.
-Without a doubt. -This is a big python.
This is what we need to see out here.
So just because we found the shed, it's not dead.
I mean, it just sheds its skin, and then it gets a new layer?
Yeah. Unfortunately as they keep eating,
they get bigger and bigger, and every time
their body expands, they shed a skin,
and they need to brush up against these trees
in order to get that old skin off, make way for the new.
That's crazy.
Couldn't have been probably left
more than a month, two months ago.
This was a big, big python out there,
and it had totally worked its way right in between the trees
where it can shed its skin. It's right on the high ground.
It's everything we're looking for.
The snake is here, and we just need to find her.
Feeling good about finding our snake.
Gotta be a good sign.
Thirty-two miles west...
Where they at, Ry? Hunt 'em up.
Dusty Crum scours the high grounds
around his cabin for female pythons
looking to nest.
Riley, go this way.
We're just heating up for the summer, you know.
It's just the time of year it is right now.
The females are all looking for places to lay eggs, man.
Looking for mates, looking for food.
That's where I come in, son.
You really gotta go the extra mile to get
the big snakes up out of there, man.
And if we don't get 'em now, there's gonna be
70,000, 100,000 more snakes in the Glades.
Where you going, Ry? Wait up, wait up.
[barks] Ry, wait up.
Wait, Ry, hold on. Watch it, Ry.
[barks]
There it is, there it is.
Riley, Riley, Riley, watch it!
Watch it, Ry!
Get back, get back, get back!
Get back, get back.
Ry, Ry, whoa.
Oh, it's peeing on me.
Aah.
I got it. Aah!
Near his camp...
-[barks] -Get back.
Dusty is under attack.
I got it.
Aah.
I got it. Aah!
Whoo!
Watch it, Ry!
Dang, son, that thing lit me up.
Oh!
Think it broke a tooth off in there.
This six-footer may not be a monster,
but its bites are still painful,
and Dusty's had enough.
I don't know, man, if the snakes are getting faster
or I'm just getting older and slower, man,
but I'm sick of getting beat up.
I'm like one of them pin cushions,
man, like a voodoo doll.
They just keep hitting me and hitting me.
Everybody else hunting in teams, man.
They're getting bit 50% less than me
because they're splitting it up, son.
It's like if I could just have another set of hands,
you know, somebody helping me,
then maybe I'd skate through a few of them, you know?
Well, he lit me up, son.
Mm.
Come on, Ry.
I gotta do something about it.
Along the northern border of the Everglades...
This is the kind of places, Tes,
that really need to be preserved and protected.
King of the Swamp Troy Landry and his hunting partner Tes Lee
are responding to a potential crisis.
This is not just thousands of birds,
but this is where they nest, this is their nesting ground.
I have some friends that take care of a bird sanctuary,
and something is eating a lot of the birds and nests.
And they believe it's the fault of a python,
and they've seen one so they have a reason to be worried.
The snakes are just getting to this area.
They running out of food in the Everglades,
and they moving north.
We need to step up to the plate
and help them to save this place
because it's beautiful.
Invasive pythons are wreaking havoc
on native bird species in the Everglades.
The ambush predators bite their prey,
then quickly wrap their powerful coils around them.
Once blood flow is stopped, the animal dies,
allowing the python to swallow the bird whole.
Let's pull up. This is it. This is the place.
Hold on.
-There's so many birds. -How pretty, huh?
Let's check it out.
Don't pull it too much.
Right there. Perfect. Yeah, that's good.
Oh, my.
This is God's country, man. Holy...
This place is just beautiful.
You've got a rainbow out there,
it's this open field,
you've got a canal that runs in between it,
and there are just birds and wildlife everywhere.
In addition to the thousands of birds
that call this sanctuary home,
more than 360 bird species
seek refuge in the Everglades
during their annual migrations
between North and South America.
They must fly thousands of miles,
and the Everglades is the perfect pitstop
to rest and refuel.
One frequent visitor is the western sandpiper,
a tiny bird that flies 3,000 miles
from Alaska to South America,
but loves a Florida layover.
We have to protect this.
If there was a mission, this is it.
No matter what it takes, we gonna protect this.
Let's start hunting on the edges.
They're gonna be tucked up inside this tree line,
so let's meet them there.
They only saw one snake.
Snakes, you know, they breed aggressively,
-so if there's one... -I know what you're saying.
-there's unfortunately more. -And unfortunately,
all the wildlife in this area,
the birds, the deer, the otters, the raccoons,
that all draws predators.
Come here.
Troy, it's so little.
-Snack sized, too. -Look how cute, huh?
It's so adorable.
But that's why we here, right there.
There's this adorable baby bird.
I couldn't tell you what kind it is,
but it landed itself on a little branch,
and, you know, it makes you realize
that they're so vulnerable out here.
These snakes will just come around,
and that's an easy snack,
and that's how they eliminate the natives.
Oh, man, they're moving over here.
We looking around, at first we don't find nothing,
and then we find a snake trail.
It's a snake trail leaving from the open area
where the birds like to feed to the little willow trees.
This is not what I wanted to see out here.
-Look right here. -Yeah.
Straight to the willow trees.
Hopefully it's just one.
This is a busy snake if it's just one.
Look at them going right through here.
Oh, yeah. Oh, Lord, yeah, look at that.
Right to the fricking willow trees.
Let's follow the trail,
-see where it goes. -Shoot, man.
In the back of my mind, I'm worried.
Usually where you see one snake, they got ten more.
I'm hoping this is an exception.
I'm hoping it's the only one here.
And then they're gonna come out at night.
I promise you, if there's a python out here,
we gonna find it.
Follow the trail.
At the gentrifying edge of the Everglades...
Zak and Bruce are looking for a monster python
threatening the kids using a local swimming hole.
We really need to be on the other side.
Yeah. I mean, we covered our bases on this side.
There's no way, you know what I mean?
We covered everything else.
I don't see but one thing we can do.
You ready to go for a swim?
Bruce and I have never been so thorough trying to find snakes.
I'm talking every single little hole, under every leaf.
We're still looking for the really big snake
that this mom described,
but unfortunately since we didn't find it on this side,
we still have to clear the other side,
and it'll make it safer for her kid, so the only way
we can get over there is by taking a swim,
and hopefully we find her over there.
All right, buddy, you ready to go for a swim?
Yup. We gotta do what we gotta do.
There's gators in here, too.
Yeah, I know, I just seen one right up the creek.
-[laughs] -Oh, it's cold, man.
Dude, I do not wanna get hit by a gator right here. Come on.
Whoo! Lord have mercy.
Oh, it's getting deep.
Oh, damn.
-Oh, my God. -Whoa!
Oh, yeah, there's a current, too. Come on.
Oh, Lord.
Come on, man, move!
As they cross a swimming hole...
Oh, Lord.
Zak and Bruce have attracted attention.
Come on, man, move!
-Aah! -Oh, my God.
-Dude! -I'm just holding on.
I can't get my foot on there.
I'm gonna get up. Wait.
Come on, move.
He's right there.
Come on, man. Hurry up!
Oh!
Whose idea was this crap?
Oh, my God.
-You all right? -Yeah. Holy crap.
Come on, let's go. Wore me out, man.
Come on, let's dry off and get to work.
Let's go catch our snakes, dude.
I hear you, brother.
This looks like a bird's nest to me, man.
It's all confusing. I can't tell if this is
-a trail, or if it's just from-- -Something's knocking them down.
An animal's doing that.
-You think that's an animal? -Yeah.
-What else could do it? -I don't know.
The reeds are going that way, this way, that way.
It's like a big nest.
Zak, snake! Snake!
Come on, Brucie.
Hey, I'm gonna cut it off.
-This way, go around. -Keep hollering.
I'm coming, I'm cutting it off.
-Right here. -Damn it.
Over here.
I'm in here. He's in this grass. Somewhere right here
-in this tall grass. -He's not. I'm sitting
right here. What are you talking about?
-He's right here. -What you mean
he's right here, Bruce? There's nothing here.
Damn, it gets so damn thick out here, dude.
I seen him. By the time I tripped
and got to him, I don't see him.
Wait. No, that's a damn cypress knee, man.
If it's not a cypress knee, it's a rock.
If it's not a rock, it's a log.
Bruce and I lost a big snake.
I'm thinking that this is definitely the one
that this lady was talking about.
It's thick back here,
and I think we're just gonna have to really take our time
and try to stomp around and really push this snake
maybe back towards the watering hole
where we might have a chance of seeing it.
Gotta be in here.
Let's take our time. Come on, we can do this, Brucie.
Keep walking, dude. That's all I know.
Twenty miles away...
Did you hear that?
What?
Just stay close to me, just a little bit.
Ashley and Kaylyn hunt for giant pythons
in a bear hotspot.
It's a dead tree, but it's pretty solid to step on.
What is this?
Oh, is that black bear hair?
Oh, my gosh.
Is it black bear hair?
That is definitely black bear hair.
I bet you he came right through here,
jumped over, and it got caught.
-Are you sure? -Yeah.
Ooh!
-Does it stink? -Yeah.
It's got black bear all over it.
That does stink. Gross.
Well, now we know there's a bear here.
Let's try to be a little more careful
as we're working our way through.
Great.
Any more surprises?
We're looking for pythons that are getting ready to lay eggs,
that are hunting, or already laid eggs.
But at that same time
our black bears here have also just had their cubs,
and so there's nothing more aggressive
than a mama bear with her cubs.
Oh, Kaylyn, there's a snake right there!
-What? -Right here!
It's a snake. We got a snake.
Hold on, he's moving.
-Whoo! -Hold on.
Oh, I missed it. I missed it.
-[groaning] -It's already on the other side.
-This way? -Yeah, maybe you can get to it.
It's a big one.
I mean, it was like this fat.
Dang.
Losing this python is a setback,
but it confirms the strategy to hunt in Bear Ridge.
We were so close.
I hate that feeling, too,
being that close and just missing it.
This is a good sign for us regardless.
We're gonna keep hunting this area.
We know that she's gonna either
be back around, or we'll find
more like her out here.
What is that on the tree?
Does that not look like a scratch to you?
That's definitely a bear.
This just happened.
Look at that scratch, like,
that is absolutely massive.
They'll do that out here.
They'll, you know, rub their scent
along trees to mark territory.
Man, look how tall it has to be.
Mm-hmm.
And they get so aggressive during mating season, too.
He's out here with us, moving around.
Well, I'm not leaving without a python.
All right, let's carry on.
Meanwhile at Dusty's camp...
Oh, Lord.
If I was something I needed, where would I be?
After getting bit by a python yet again,
Dusty's brainstorming a solution.
Everything is in here. I just gotta
put the pieces together of the puzzle.
I can't even count in the last ten years
how many times I've been bit.
Lately it seems like it's becoming,
like, the normal thing. You know, the snake can
only strike so far.
It's just I gotta put a little space
in between me, you know. It's like how can I catch
a snake, being another three foot away?
My dang wheels have been spinning in my head,
you know, them hamsters running around full throttle.
I gotta come up with something.
That's what I'm doing out here.
I'm looking, seeing what I got,
make something out of what I got.
What about that?
Hah, might be able to use that.
That's lightweight aluminum, boy.
[whistles]
Yeah. [laughs]
We're cooking with gas now, baby.
I never stinking cease to amaze myself.
Look at that. Whoo, doggy.
[laughs]
Halloween crap.
Oh!
I've been looking for that.
A snake ain't gonna know the difference
between this and my hand, bud.
That's what I looked like the other day, son.
It lit me up like the 4th of July.
Invention, it's like the necessity of my mother,
you know what I mean?
Heck, you know, I ain't saying
all my ideas are number one, you know,
but...
one out of ten of 'em gotta be half-decent,
you know what I'm saying?
See, them hamster wheels
don't spin around for nothing, do they?
Now I'm gonna take myself
out of the danger zone.
We're cooking now, baby.
Look, look, right here's a snake?
Watch it, watch it, boy. Huh?
Try to bite me now, son.
Bam! Gotcha!
This is a fricking game changer, you know what I'm saying?
I can't wait to get out hunting and put this sucker to work.
It's like Swiss Army Dusty.
Whoo! Yeah.
Son, tch-tch, that's it.
North of the Everglades at the bird sanctuary...
It's gonna be easy to lose them in here, so be careful.
Yeah.
Troy and Tes are following
what they suspect are python trails.
-This stuff is thick. -Yeah.
Yeah, everything is wet, everything is thick.
But it's a perfect...
perfect environment for them.
It really sucks finding that the pythons
have made it over here. They're looking
for new places to get food.
But it means we're in the right spot,
and hopefully it's just one in here,
and we can find 'em. But you never know.
Keep your eyes open.
Oh, look at that trail right there.
Whoa.
You follow that trail a little bit.
Yeah.
-This is a big trail. -Yes.
Troy, something big is moving through here.
Keep your eyes open.
She's gotta be out here.
-Tes, Tes, Tes! -Yeah?
-Hurry, hurry! -Where is it?
Right in here. Right in here somewhere.
-Where, where, where? -Right in here.
You see it?
No, I don't see it.
It came in this nasty stuff.
I can't see anything in here.
Ugh. God, I can't see.
I thought I saw the middle of it.
-You don't see nothing? -No.
Oh, man.
This thing could be anywhere now.
Come help me look over here, Tes.
It had to come this way.
Goddog it. It looked like a big one.
I don't know-- I don't know where it went.
If it just wasn't dark, we'd be able to probably see it still.
You'd have trouble seeing a damn gorilla in here,
much less a fricking snake.
Let's keep looking.
-Oh, Tes, Tes! -Where?
Look right here, look right here, look right here.
I don't know where's the head, I see the tail.
Oh, it's over here, it's over here, Troy.
Okay, I see the tail. I got the tail.
Troy, Troy, Troy, be careful, be careful.
-Watch it, watch it. -Whoa!
Whoo!
-Watch it! -Ooh!
Don't let it get you, don't let it get you.
Troy, Troy, Troy, be careful, be careful!
Aah!
At the bird sanctuary...
-Tes! Look right here. -Where?
Troy and Tes are fighting
a furious serpent.
-Aah! -Whoo!
-It's getting... -Don't let him get in that
nasty stuff. Oh!
Don't let her get in that tall stuff.
-Aah! -She's looking at me.
She's looking at me. Watch it. Whoa!
Grab it, Tes, grab it.
Whoa! There you go.
Whoo! You all right, you all right?
Yeah.
This seven-footer might not be a giant,
but it's full of eggs.
Removing it now will save the lives of thousands of birds
over the next few years.
-Whew! -You got a sack with you?
Yeah, it's in my pocket.
That's how it happens. One mama drops
40, 50, 60 eggs.
Half of them are females.
So this one female in the next three years
would've most probably equaled to 150, 200 snakes.
This place would've been infested with snakes
in the next three years.
Let's get out of here, huh?
Deep into the night...
You see anything, man?
Bruce and Zak continue looking for the large python
terrorizing kids at a local swimming hole...
Check this out, check this out.
And they use any clue they can find.
-Oh! -Oh, little frog.
Get him, get him.
Where's he at? You got him.
-[laughs] -Cool, man.
Look at that thing, dude.
I'm telling you, man, that's cool.
Oh, yeah.
What's up, buddy? [laughs]
If we're finding frogs like that out here...
-Snakes oughta be somewhere. -Yes, sir.
Let's get to walking,
-see if we can catch one. -For sure.
I'm really worried that Bruce and I might've
missed our shot on catching this giant snake.
Hopefully we have another shot at her,
but we're gonna continue to search around
and see if we can pull out a giant.
Damn.
Bruce, Bruce, don't move.
Don't move.
What you got?
He's moving, he's moving.
Don't move, don't move.
Don't move, don't move!
Come over here! Come over here right now!
-I'm coming, I'm coming. -Come here!
Come on, come on!
Oh, [bleep], man, what you got?
It's a big ass snake!
Put it in the damn bag. Hurry up.
-Just be still. -Get it in the bag, Bruce.
I'm going, man, fast as I can.
Move this leg. Put that leg on this side.
I don't have it, he's got me.
Okay, get on this side of it.
Okay, ready? Ready?
You're gonna have to stand up or something.
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
No, I got him. Come on, come on, come on.
-You got this leg. -Yeah, I got it,
Just get him in, watch out, we're right next to the water,
dude, this is not a good place to catch a snake.
I know, we got a big gator right there.
Hurry up. Yeah, pull him up. Ready?
Get him in there, get him in there.
Okay, one, two, three. Stand up with him. I got it.
I got him. Get him in there.
-Ready? -Hurry.
-Yep. -I got it, I got it, I got it.
-Whoo! -Let's get away from the water.
-Whoo. -Let's get away.
-They got gators. -Okay.
That thing was ambushing, dude.
This 13-footer will bring in close to $1,200,
but what's more important, it fits the description
of the snake terrorizing the swimming hole.
It feels great to catch a giant snake like this.
It's exactly what the mom was describing,
so we're pumped up.
We couldn't ask for a bigger snake
or a better capture than this.
That's a big one, man.
-Hell, yeah, it is. -Crazy.
Over on Bear Ridge...
I didn't think it was gonna get scarier
until the sun fell.
Ashley and Kaylyn
are determined to capture a python
and push on into the night,
despite the danger from bears.
This is the Everglades at night.
Being out here at night, it's a whole 'nother world.
Not only are we out there looking for our pythons
that pose a threat to us, but at the very same time,
we have to be watching over our shoulder
for black bears, too.
I'm really careful because I've got Ashley,
who's not used to the Florida environment,
and so trying to give her little pointers
and things to keep her eyes open for.
It's almost oddly quiet tonight.
Normally I usually hear a lot more movement.
Snake!
Snake! Snake!
-Snake? -Snake!
-Oh, my God. -Big.
Oh, yeah. Whoo! That's a good snake.
Do you feel comfortable grabbing the tail, Ashley?
-Yeah. -Okay.
She's a big'un.
Whoa! Okay.
All right, now I don't feel comfortable doing that.
Aah!
On Bear Ridge...
She's shedding.
Aah! Whoa!
Ashley and Kaylyn confront a massive female.
Whoa!
This is a fat snake.
Yes, it is.
And pissed off.
Kaylyn, what do I do?
I gotta get it uncoiled.
-Whoa! -Hold on. Wait. Hold on.
That almost got you. Hold on, wait.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Watch yourself.
All right, come here, Ashley, get the tail.
Hold the tail for me, okay?
Don't let this one get away.
All right, I'm it.
-Damn it. -Sorry.
Oh, my God!
Kaylyn, that's a good snake.
Ready to get him?
Good, good, good, good.
Whoa! Get that bag.
-Got it? -Yep.
-Whoo! -Man, this is a big'un.
This 10-foot breeder
may be carrying several dozen eggs
and will probably fetch close to a thousand dollars
when all is said and done.
-That's a monster snake. -Wow.
Why's it so fat like that?
She's got eggs. Look right here. You see that?
That's all python eggs. That's a lot of money.
We get this really strong whiff of a musk,
and there's a difference in python musk and bear musk,
and this was definitely bear musk.
We're ready to be done with today. I wanna get back
to the buggy, get this snake put up,
and be done for the night.
All right, you ready, girl?
Yeah, let's get the heck out of here.
Yeah, hold her up for me.
We need to get our snake and get out of here fast.
This is a successful day for us. We're feeling good.
No point in staying out here any longer.
Love these woods, but not at night, not like this.
Me, either.
Come on, we'll pick it up. Let's get out of here.
In the north...
Hold on, Tes.
Troy and Tes are completing
their final sweep of the bird sanctuary.
Coming in hot, coming in hot. Hold on.
Tes and I hunted last night.
We hunted all night, and just before daylight,
we wind up catching a big female,
and I believe it's the snake that my friend seen.
I hope to God it's the only one around,
but I'm really worried it's not.
Look, look.
That look like a snake trail to me.
A small enough gator slide, you could think it's a snake.
Yeah, but you notice something?
No claw marks. It's not an alligator.
This is definitely a snake.
I don't like that.
Oh, man, look at this trail.
What you thinking?
-A trail. -Yeah.
This over here and this goes up in there.
Gonna try to walk straight back this way?
Yeah. That's where we're gonna find the snakes, are in there.
Let's go. Come on.
Right here.
Look at this.
This looks like...
something been hanging out right here.
You can tell the birds are sleeping here at night.
Another trail going straight to the willow trees.
We seen a few more trails, but I'm wondering if
it's some of the same trails that big female used.
I'm not quite sure.
So we gonna leave,
but I'm gonna keep in touch
with our friends at the sanctuary,
and hopefully they don't see
any more signs of snakes or any more snakes.
-You all right? -Yeah.
Over at Dusty's...
I just gotta prove to myself
how brilliant I stinking am, dude.
The inventive Gladesman tests his new hunting apparatus.
With them robo-arms, son, I'm gonna be able
to wear that snake out without getting bit.
That sucker's gonna be so distracted with them hands
coming at him, son, it's like an octopus.
He ain't gonna know where it's gonna come from.
So while he's busy getting distracted
by them two hands and that grabber,
I'm gonna sneak in with my hand and pow.
Holy crap!
Oh, there it is. There it is.
Whoa!
Uh-uh, uh-uh.
Quit trying to get away, boy.
Ooh. In that thick stuff.
Oh, aah...
Come on, get out of there.
Further south...
Uh-uh. Quit trying to get away, boy.
Dusty puts his new invention to work.
Ooh. In that thick stuff.
Oh, aah...
Come on, get out of there.
Oh, he got me.
Get out of there.
Hey, hey, come on.
Oh!
Ooh-- oh!
Aah!
Ooh, watch him. Watch him.
Aah! Oh, watch him, son, watch him.
Now I gotcha.
Aah! Come here.
Ahh, gotcha.
Whoo, son!
Yeah, kept me out of the danger zone.
Uh-uh. The gadget arms works.
Huh? Look.
That ain't me bleeding this time, is it?
Get this thing in the bag.
I gotta get back, tell the world about my invention.
This six-footer is not a breeding female,
but it'll still bring in $200 in bounty money
and at least as much in python products
without a single drop of spilled blood.
This is a fricking game changer, you know what I'm saying?
I'm like one of them Albert geniuses.
I'm like half machine, half animal,
half Dusty Crum.
I can see it right now.
One of them big things at the football game,
the blimp going across.
"Wildman's Snake Arms."
Whoo!
Back at Dusty's...
What's up?
Troy and Tes have brought the big female
they caught at the bird sanctuary
for an autopsy and processing.
Look, feel right here.
There's something in there.
Ooh.
Is that an egg?
Feels like hard-hard.
No, that's full of eggs right there.
She's loaded with eggs.
Loaded down.
All right, flatten it out for me.
That's good.
We was very confident that that was the snake
my friends seen in the bird sanctuary.
At least we was able to catch her
before she laid her eggs.
Oh, yeah. Look there, Easter.
You can just see them through the fat poking through.
Look at them.
-Now you split it. -Golly.
Get in there and split it across.
Look at that.
Can you believe it?
Oh, my God.
This is just, all this is feeding these eggs right here.
-You know what I mean? -Yeah.
This membrane.
These are good-size eggs.
It's a huge success to find a snake, and not only a snake,
but one of these gravid females
that have all the eggs inside of them.
We're working as a team, and we are finding
the snakes with the eggs. We're getting more out this way
than we did last year.
-Fourteen, 16. -Fourteen.
Seventeen plus 14 is what?
-Thirty-one. -All right, man, 31 eggs.
Thirty-one.
That's a huge win for the Everglades right there.
-What? -Yeah.
You guys, you're killing it, son. Just keep it up.
Thirty-one eggs.
Dusty, this is not that big of a snake.
You think this would be, like, her first litter?
-Probably. -Man.
Thirty-one eggs.
Thirty-two snakes.
Good job.
All right, Dusty.
Thank you for the help, dude.
-Thank you. -You're welcome, brother.
-Thanks, man. -Thank you, thank you.
That's snake business, baby.