As a heatwave scorches the Everglades...
Whoo, it has been absolutely cooking out here.
Even the snakes don't wanna be out here in this heat.
Absolutely not.
The hunters strike...
Whoa, Tes, Tes, Tes! Hurry up.
I got his tail. He's not going anywhere.
-Watch it, watch it. -Aah!
Turning up the heat on the snakes...
Aaron, right here! Get in here.
I got it! Aah! Oh!
-That's a big snake. -Aah!
Taking every advantage...
Oh, he's up in the tree.
One of my new favorite things
to be eating is iguana.
Proving nothing will stop them...
Troy, come here, I got a snake!
From defeating the invasive menace.
Whoa!
Whoa, whoa!
Oh!
As triple digit temperatures roast the Everglades...
Plenty of spots for a big female
to make a nest, dude. Look at all this.
We gotta find some spots to get off.
Florida native Zak Catchem and Aaron Crum
are heading to the deep canals
near the western boundary of the Glades
to ambush breeder pythons.
This is hot.
I see a good landing right here.
We should probably get off here and look.
-Let's hit it, baby. -It's so hot,
it feels like you're baking in an oven,
and the snakes are gonna feel that, too.
They need somewhere to drink and somewhere to hunt.
Some of the last bit of natural water in Florida
are in these manmade canals, and we're gonna target them
to really try to pinpoint some giant females.
I think that's gonna help us a lot.
This area looks hot, man.
Good, that big girl's gotta be back here somewhere.
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
Oh. Slippery.
-Ready? -All right, buddy.
Place looks fun, buddy.
When it's so hot and humid down here in the Everglades,
it is so much more miserable hunting snakes.
I mean, the sweat's dripping in your eyes.
That's why I wear this bandana:
to keep the sweat out of my eyes mostly.
Humidity always gets me.
Aaron, big snake! Hissing at me!
-You see one? -Oh, yeah, right here.
His tail is right by his head right now.
Oh, he is pissed.
So pissed.
Tail, tail, tail-tail-tail, tail.
Grab and run, grab and run. If you grab it, grab and run.
Do it now, do it now, do it now.
-He's looking around. -Oh!
Pull! Pull him out. Pull him out.
Just like that, right there-- be careful, be careful.
I got him, I got him, I got him.
-Whoa! -There you go.
Good job, Aaron, good job, Aaron.
-Oh! Aah! -Ready?
There you go, there you go, there you go!
-I got him... -I lost him, I lost him!
Aaron, grab him right now!
Grab him! Grab him right now!
I got him.
Aah!
-Damn. -Don't do it,
don't do it. Gotta grab this thing.
Don't let him get you, Zak, don't let him get you.
-Aah! -You all right?
Yeah.
Aah!
-You got a shot? You got a shot? -Ready?
-Yeah, yeah, we're ready. -Aah!
There you go.
Don't let him wrap up, don't let him wrap up.
Don't let him wrap up. Yup, yup, stretch him out.
Despite the sweltering conditions,
their hunt is off to a good start.
As hot as it was,
this snake must've needed some electrolytes.
This thing was burning. I'm surprised
it even survived as long as it did.
It's really tough to deal with all these different elements
while trying to catch these big snakes.
But it pays off.
-Let's get him. -Nice snake.
-Let's get him. -Yup, yup, yup, yup.
[laughs]
The plan is working.
Over at legendary Gladesman Dusty Crum's property...
Hey, guys, little tiny dancers.
I'll get y'all some food.
The veteran python hunter has
a more pressing issue.
Problem is, son, I'm out of food.
Man, getting food out here in the swamp, son,
is like trying to get food
up into Alaska somewhere in some remote region.
It takes at least an hour and a half one way
to get to the nearest Wally World and get stocked up.
And all that supplies
has to last me the whole month, you know.
Oh, what could I get running?
So I got myself in a little jam.
I ain't got nothing really running right right now.
Everything needs something or another,
and I need to spend a few days just trying to fix stuff.
This sucker has a busted radiator hose.
That fricking--
The transmission's going out on this one.
This sucker, man.
So if I can just get one of these things up and running,
we're gonna go get some pizza, man,
some chocolate chip cookies.
Get some ice cream, man.
Come on, baby, one more time. Daddy's gotta eat.
[engine stalling]
Come on.
Son.
All right, come on, baby.
It's up to you. My last hope right here.
Now, if I can find the keys.
There they are.
-[engine starts] -Oh, yeah, baby.
Ha!
We're coming to the store now, baby.
I got no brakes.
Crap! Aah!
Watch it, watch it, watch it.
Crap.
This thing's a freaking death trap, bud.
Boy, we can't take this.
Ha! No brakes.
With an average swamp buggy speed of three miles per hour,
it would take Dusty six hours each way
to drive his buggy to town.
There ain't no fricking way
we're gonna make it to town today.
We're gonna have to shop local.
Until he can fix one of his cars,
he's left with a single option.
The Everglades is nature's grocery store, son.
If you starve out here, you're an idiot.
I'm gonna go ride around, look for some edible plants,
some greens, get some chlorophyll in me.
That's gonna hold me over till tomorrow.
[engine starts]
All right, man.
Feel like I haven't had a decent meal in a week.
Fixing to hit up that produce section, son.
Get some greens.
Looking for these little leaves, they're little flowers.
It's kind of like a salad. You can eat them
just fresh right off the thing
if I can find some.
There's all kinds of stuff.
I mean, people been surviving out here
for hundreds and hundreds of years, man.
It ain't the easiest thing to do,
but it's what you gotta do sometimes.
Oh, here it is.
Here's some of that stuff.
Oh, yeah, I'm getting me some salad, boy. Whoo!
Yeah, see this one right here with these flowers, bud?
Right here.
This like Everglades salad right here, buddy.
Yellow wood sorrel,
also known as sour grass
due to its mildly sour taste,
is an edible plant extremely high in vitamin C
and native to North America.
Quick little snack.
I'm gonna get some more of it.
It's gonna take some work
to put some food on the table for me.
I got some greens. I'm still lacking that protein.
My stomach's eating itself, you know.
My dogs are hungry, I'm hungry.
Looking for a snake, looking for anything
that's any kind of protein, any kind of meal
I can put in my body.
Twenty-seven miles away...
Whew! It's about time we got that breeze.
It has been absolutely cooking out here.
I think today's high is almost 100 degrees.
Ashley "Deadeye" Jones and her partner Kaylyn Glenn
press on into the broiling cypress swamp.
The heat and the humidity, it will literally choke you out.
It will take every bit of life that you think you have in you.
It's practically like swimming through a hot humid environment,
and your body is working ten times stronger
than it would in any other environment
and it is not made for the weak.
Even the snakes don't wanna be out here in this heat.
Absolutely not. They're gonna hide away
in any cool wet spot that they can.
The difference in Florida and Louisiana
really it's just as hot, but in Florida
the sun angle seems to be a lot harsher.
You know, even if you're in the shade,
it feels like that the sun has more strength here.
Well, I didn't think the temperatures
were gonna get quite this hot today.
I mean, we can try to look in some of the holes.
Maybe we'll find some hidden, you know...
-Yeah. -...in some cooler spots.
Just like us, when it's this hot,
we're looking for shade, we're looking for those cool spaces.
The snakes are the exact same way.
We're looking for these cooler areas,
and hopefully find ourselves a python.
They don't like their body
getting too hot during the daytime,
so they'll find a nice cool place
to lie down and curl up.
You wanna check under all this brush.
So I'm just hoping to find a python.
Try to stop and listen every once in a while
for the-- to hear any rattling.
Be hard to listen as crunchy as it is.
-Everything's so dry. -Yeah.
Cool hollowed-out log here.
Anything in it?
No, it's empty.
-Ouch. -Careful.
This is all sharp sawgrass.
-Cut you? -Yeah, got my arm pretty good.
This real dry area, you know, real sunny and hot.
We can always come back and visit it.
We have no chances of catching a snake out here in this heat.
They need to get down into the hole and cool off
and be able to get away from the sun
just blistering down on them all day.
All right, let's go ahead and get on back to the buggy.
We know the snakes aren't moving.
You gotta know when your strategy's not working.
The temperatures are too hot.
We need to switch to night hunting.
This is gonna be our opportune moment
to find these snakes, when they're moving
at their most active state.
Thirty-two miles southwest,
King of the Swamp Troy Landry
and his hunting partner Tes Lee
have their own strategy to take advantage of the heat.
All those little holes right there on the bank.
That look like a good spot to get down.
I think you're right.
When the sun's out and it's hot as hell,
the snakes are gonna be spread out wherever they got water.
-You got it? -Yup.
Tes and I's gonna take off
and hit the middle of the Everglades.
The little canals with the small banks,
with water close by.
Hopefully it'll pay off for us.
I really think this is where we're gonna find them.
Okay.
It's real nasty in here.
Snakes are moving out in this area
because they love water,
so I think we're gonna find some.
This is perfect. This is where they're gonna hide.
Oh, yeah.
Ooh, Troy, look.
A softshell turtle.
-Oh, yeah, look at that. -She's probably trying to, like,
-lay some eggs. -Oh, yeah, she's trying to lay.
Yeah, let's leave her. She's full of eggs.
The Florida softshell turtle
is native to the state of Florida.
It's carnivorous, with most of its diet
consisting of snails and small fish,
and its eggs are perfect python prey.
Water's gonna draw wildlife,
and wildlife is gonna draw snakes,
especially big female pregnant snakes.
That's good sign.
Boy, she better be glad
-we not in Louisiana. -Why?
Because I would cook her for supper.
What, you like eating turtle?
We do that all the time.
What does it taste like?
Turtle? Turtle's the best.
That's my favorite food.
Okay, well, are you gonna cook me some someday?
I will cook you some, but we gonna leave this one alone.
Let's stay focused. We gotta stay focused on snakes.
You got me hungry now.
I'll cook you some one day,
and I promise you, you gonna like it.
Okay, I'm holding you to it.
Hey! Listen,
go a little slower than normal
and look real good, there's a--
look like a big snake trail right here where I'm at.
-Okay, yeah. -And it's going
straight towards where you at.
Uh-huh.
So this looks like a big snake trail.
You see, this is the kind of places...
Troy, come here. I got a snake!
-Whoo! -Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry.
With her eyes on a snake...
Come here! I got a snake!
Tes is calling out for help.
Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry.
Put some step in it. Let's go!
Where you at?
That's what you hollering "snake, snake" for?
Yeah.
Aw...
He's gonna bite you.
That's a little gardener snake.
-No, it's a black racer. -A who?
This is a black racer.
-Oh. -Yeah.
We call them garden snakes at home.
You find them in your gardens.
That's what the hell you was panicking?
It's way too early in the morning
for a false alarm like that.
[laughs] He's cute, right?
-Yeah, he's cute. -Yeah. He's actually
like a Florida native snake.
-He belongs here. -Yeah.
He's got a purpose here.
We like him here.
Poor little thing.
He don't realize how much he's in danger.
I'm sure the pythons will eat them little things.
All right, little dude, back you go.
I thought you had a big giant python.
You was screaming, I got so pumped up.
I'm sorry. I didn't mean to trick you.
I think we on the right track.
So what Tes and I's gonna do, we gonna move on,
and hopefully the next place we hunt
we gonna be a little more successful.
There he goes.
We in the right area, I promise you.
I think that's just the beginning.
Over at Dusty's, confined to his camp,
the Wildman turns to his Everglades backyard
to source a proper meal for himself.
There ain't hardly no mammals left out here, man.
The snakes done got them all.
I just need one to eat, you know, just for today.
We're trying to make a real balanced meal right here, bud.
I got the salad together,
but if I could find some protein, boy,
we'd be in hog heaven.
I'm looking for something that walks, crawls, or flies, son,
to get in my belly.
Dusty can hunt only animals that are invasive
or in season, according to Florida state law.
I mean, even if I could get a tree rat, you know,
that'd be good.
It's called hunting for a reason.
It's tough.
You gotta spend a lot of time.
You gotta have patience, you know.
If it was something else, it'd be called "getting,"
you know, because you'd just go out there and get it.
Oh, dude, it's a squirrel right there.
Oh, squirrel...
[gunshot]
Aw.
I missed him.
I'm starting to feel defeated, you know.
It's just like I'm running out of freaking energy, man.
Need to find something to eat pretty quick.
I seen an iguana back here living in this wood before.
I don't know if he was just visiting
or if he's hanging around.
One of my new favorite things to be eating
is iguana, you know.
That's chicken of the tree.
Oh, he's up in the tree. Look.
Stay there, stay there.
Stay right there...
Hang on...
[gunshot]
I got him!
Oh, man! This is a fricking game changer,
you know what I'm saying?
Oh, yeah, baby.
Whoo!
That's chicken of the tree right there, son.
Yeah, man, I got the salad, son.
I got the iguana for the protein.
So I'm gonna whip that stuff together into something special.
[laughs]
Eating good in the neighborhood.
Twenty-one miles west...
Ahh. This damn Florida heat, man.
Zak and Aaron try to ambush pythons
heading for a network of canals.
They've split up to cover the area faster.
Python hunting is hard enough as it is.
You're trying to stay focused while crawling
on your hands and knees through all this brush
and digging around.
Then you add this crazy heat to it,
and you're baking, feeling nauseous,
you're looking down, you're trying figure out
how did I even end up here at a certain point.
And, man, it makes everything so much more difficult.
Look at this right here.
Something's digging up these turtle nests.
You know what that something is? Python food.
Raccoons, possums, coyotes, whatever else is back here
just waiting to get slurped up by a python, man.
I'm telling you what.
This is the area.
Meanwhile, Aaron Crum searches the open fields.
It has got to be over 100 degrees.
South Florida's uncomfortable no matter what,
but when you add the humidity to this heat, it just
makes it feel like it's ten degrees hotter
than anywhere else.
Wow. That looks like a snake hole right there.
Not gonna stick my hand in there, though.
Find something to get in there with. Look around.
This'll probably work good. Let's see.
Oh, yeah.
Gotta be careful looking in here, too.
There could be a poisonous snake in here, too.
Not always a python.
Aah!
Definitely a...
perfect nesting hole for a snake.
That one doesn't seem as deep.
Nah, I think this one's been vacant for a while.
Kind of filled in.
Pythons will move in the daytime
because they need heat from the sun.
But what happens is once it gets so hot,
they will go back to a hole.
So if you're smart enough to look down in these holes,
they're probably down there cooling off a little bit.
May as well keep searching.
Looks like there's plenty of them to check around here.
Over at Dusty's...
We're in business. Look at that, baby.
With all the ingredients secured,
Dusty prepares a swamp-style feast.
Boy, nothing gonna lift my spirits
like getting a good meal, bud.
It feels like I ain't ate in, like, three weeks, man.
My stomach's been eating itself all day.
Well, to have a balanced fricking diet, son,
you gotta be like an Egyptian.
Build one of them food pyramids, you know.
I got the leaves group on there.
I got the iguana group, son.
All right, time to get to cooking.
What I think I'm gonna do is take that iguana, man,
and cook it in some of that snake oil, bud.
Gotta turn the heats up a little bit.
A little pan over fire,
you can make the tacos, you know, pizza,
you can make, you know, iguana salads.
The possibilities are endless with it.
Put some of this.
Smell it? Smells good, don't it?
Yeah, baby.
Let that cook about 20 minutes.
Maybe not even, probably 15 minutes,
bon appétit.
Look, living out here ain't easy, man, you know.
You get backed into a corner, backed into a wall, son,
you just gotta push through it, make something happen, dude.
Looking good now, son.
It's like fajitas, buddy, right out of the...
right out of the pan, bud.
Whoo!
Ooh.
Mmm. That's good.
Try a little piece of that, Ry.
What do you think about that? Pretty good, huh?
Just that little bit, and I'm already feeling better.
Mmm.
To the east...
-What the hell is this? -I don't know,
but you don't want it to catch on fire.
Troy and Tes are searching for pythons
trying to escape blistering heat.
I don't know if it's debris from the hurricane maybe,
that big hurricane that hit here.
-Yeah. -It tore this whole area up.
I guarantee this is from the surge.
Oh.
Got some snakes inside this thing.
I bet, Tes. This is a perfect place for them to hide.
I guarantee you we could catch some big snakes
because it is hot as hell
and they going underneath all that debris
to cool off when it's hot.
Look-a here.
They got a tunnel going in there.
You can see something that look like a snake
been going in and out.
Get up there, see what you can find.
You're gonna make me get bit?
-[snap] -Oh, jeez.
Watch yourself. It could have rattlesnakes in here, too.
Be careful.
I mean, there's just tons of tunnels up here.
This is the perfect snake home.
It's like a snake hotel, okay?
There's probably hundreds of them in here.
We should light this thing on fire
and see how many snakes come pouring out.
That would have to be a controlled burn.
Yeah, we'd have to get with some biologist or something
and bring them out here and do it with them.
Yeah, that was a hypothetical.
But I don't want to get in trouble.
-People go to jail for that. -Yeah.
But I bet you there's a dozen snakes underneath here.
Come down from up there. Be careful.
Come on.
Oof. I don't know how we're gonna hunt anything in here.
Well, let's keep hunting. Come on.
Let's go. Let's go look at the backside.
Although I know in my heart we could find most probably
a dozen giant snakes underneath,
it's not worth the chance.
Sometimes you just gotta know when to give up and move on.
Troy, I don't know.
These things could be anywhere in here.
Ooh, look at this, Tes, look-a here.
Oh, Tes, Tes, Tes!
Over here! Look-a here, look-a here, look-a here.
-Whoa-whoa-whoa! -Oh, my...
Where-- I don't even know where it is, where is it?
I don't know, where's the head? I don't even see the head.
-I see the tail. -Okay, let's grab his tail.
-Let's grab his tail. -Hold on, I'm gonna
grab the tail. Get right there.
Okay, okay, okay.
Aah! Watch it, Troy!
-Aah! Okay. -Okay, I see the tail.
-Watch it. Watch it. -Aah!
Whoa!
Troy, watch, it's looking right at me, Troy.
Don't panic.
-Don't let him get me. Aah! -Oh.
-Yeah, this thing is pissed. -Watch him.
Ooh-hoo, it's mad. Watch him.
That's a young one. He's full of energy.
Okay... I got the tail.
Got the tail. Go in for the kill.
-Catch him, Tes. -You ready?
-Catch him. -Oh!
Catch him, Tes.
Oh! [laughs]
You all right? You all right?
Oh, man. This guy gave us a fight, dude.
Probably a little male. About seven, eight foot.
Man, he is full of piss and vinegar.
A young one like this is so fast, you gotta be careful.
This seven-footer may not be a monster,
but it'll bring in $800 after processing
on a day that could've easily been a bust.
We gonna keep going
and try to hunt for at least a couple hours.
It's very important never to give up.
You just gotta keep pushing,
especially when you're snake hunting.
All right, ready? You got the bag?
Yup, I got the bag.
-Whoo! You ready? One-- -Three!
[both laugh]
-My man. -That's what I'm talking about.
Oh, jeez.
Let's roll. You ready?
Ten miles away,
nighttime brings the cooler temperatures
that Ashley and Kaylyn hope
will entice the pythons out of their holes.
The temperature's dropped significantly.
Just keep going.
-What's that? -Where?
Right there in that grass.
Ashley spots something in the grass.
She sees a trail through this brush.
I think it's got lots of promises
for being a python trail.
This brush is so thick.
You can barely see through it.
So much brush and places to hide.
Kaylyn, look, there's a snake.
-A snake? -Yeah.
-Really? -Yeah.
Where, where, where? Did it go through here?
-Did it go through there? -Hold on, hold on. Yeah.
Go around. See if you can go around.
You're not coming through here.
I'm coming around the other way.
Damn it! I can't get through there,
but it went straight through there.
I can barely get through here, too, but I got around.
Where you at?
-Oh, God. -Okay.
Hold on.
-She's a bigg'un-- -Whoa!
Okay, do you wanna hold the tail?
Oh!
I'm gonna get behind him and pull his tail.
Whoa!
Lord have mercy.
Come on.
Ready to get him?
Oh.
I don't like it when he's all good and pissed off.
I'm gonna come around this way. You got him?
Yeah, I got him.
Good job!
Whoo! That'll wake you up.
With a python bagged
within two hours of starting their night hunt,
Ashley and Kaylyn have proof that waiting until dark
was the right choice in this unrelenting heat.
Okay.
You've just gotta trust your decisions.
I'm feeling really great, and I know
that we're gonna have a good night ahead of us.
Let's just try to keep going as far as we can
and see what happens.
Huge. That's a ten-foot snake.
Meanwhile...
This is so dry up here.
Troy and Tes are also hoping
that the cooler night will bring out the snakes.
It's like it goes from one extreme to another.
I've been hunting here now for five or six years
and I'm still having a hard time adjusting.
It's the driest I've ever seen it out here,
but it's also cool at night, so we gotta stay focused
and hunt right on the edge of the water.
Oh, look at this, Tes. Look in here, look in here.
That's a good spot.
Tes! Tes! Tes! Hurry up.
-You see one, you see one? -Hurry, hurry, hurry.
-Come, come. -Where? Where'd it go?
Right here, right here by this dead palmetto, I seen it.
Hey, Troy, look at this. There's a hole right here.
He's just going straight back in there.
-Oh, [bleep]. -Do you see all that?
Oh, damn.
It knew exactly where it was going and it just...
I don't see nothing, Tes.
I took my eyes off of that snake
for a half a second. Remember that.
Here was my chance, and it got away from me.
But it happens sometimes. It happens.
Come on, let's keep looking.
You remember what I told you.
-If you see one... -Mm-hm.
-don't take your eyes off of it. -Just holler.
Deeper into the night...
Aaron, let's take a little break, man.
I'm sweating so bad.
Zak and Aaron are taking a quick break
before continuing their hunt.
The rainy season has not even hit yet.
You know, like, where's the rain at?
The temperatures are changing. It's getting hotter longer.
It's been wild to see these snakes,
but especially the reptiles,
the iguanas, the monitor lizards,
and the rainy season is changing.
-It's going north. -Hopefully it don't make it
-to where I live. -That's what I'm saying.
It's already right on the edge of Okeechobee.
I am so ready for this day to be over.
I mean, we can barely even stand up any longer.
Let's stop messing around and go find them. Come on.
-We gotta do it. -Come on, buddy.
Oh.
There's tall grass in here. You keep your eyes peeled.
[sighs]
Aaron, I'm feeling it.
Leave not a damn stone unturned here.
Aaron!
Right here!
Get in here.
-Aah! -I got it.
Get through it, get through it, get through it, get through it.
Zak, right here, right here, right here.
Oh, my God, it's a big one. Whoa!
Get her tail.
Zak, where you at?
Right here, right here, baby.
Watch out, Zak.
That's a big snake.
Aah!
-Aah! -Aah!
Almost.
I got her, stretch her out.
Now. Now, right there.
-Ready? -Yup.
Aah!
Oh!
With a second python
that ups their total earnings
to almost $1,800,
the hunters are more than ready to call it a night.
I got her.
There was so much pain and suffering today,
and I never thought the day was going to end.
But after putting hands on this python,
all of that just went out the window,
and we feel really great about what we did today.
I'm toasted. Let's head home.
Further east...
-I wanna find one so bad. -Yeah, me, too.
After one catch in the cooler temperatures,
Ashley and Kaylyn have decided to go for more
and hunt until sunrise.
Peek into some of the holes they'll be lying down within,
especially with the cooler temperatures tonight.
We've been getting our asses whipped out here.
It's hard as hell when you're walking around out here
and you don't know what to expect.
Hopefully we'll come across one of these snakes
maybe just crossing the road.
What a great spot, too, to hide, in between all these rocks,
especially come nighttime.
Look at this. Check this out.
Whoa.
Oh, man, we are in the right spot.
See if I can see underneath these... these big boulders.
Gonna get a stick or something to break off.
-Where are you going? -I'm going underneath
this boulder that we stepped on.
Let's see. Just wanna be careful.
If it's a home to a different kind of snake,
I don't wanna get bit in the face by a venomous one.
Watch out digging in there.
Oh, damn.
There's a snake shed right here.
Oh, that's so creepy.
See, that's where these rocks, if they're shedding right now,
they're coming over here and rubbing up against it
to do exactly this here.
And that means that snake only got bigger.
Yup. We find ourselves a snake shed.
It looks more so like a native snake,
but it also could be a smaller python.
And so either way, this is a hotspot.
Oh, his eyeballs.
They need to be able to come over here and get the skin off.
You can see it's exactly what this snake did.
He came right in between this little rock pile,
and then slipped it right on off.
What do you think, keep looking around here?
-I think this is a good spot. -Yeah.
The hunters will keep searching the area,
but they need to hurry before the sun's blazing heat returns.
You're either gonna be fighting the sun
and just the heat exhaustion
or you're gonna be fighting,
not sleeping. It's nighttime.
The only advantage about hunting at night is
not having the sun beating down on you all day.
Can't help but wonder how many that are
right here in front of our face
-that we can't even spot. -Oh, my gosh.
No risk, no reward, Kaylyn.
Twenty-five miles west,
with the sun back up...
Tes, let's get down right here.
Troy and Tes already have a python,
but they're pushing for another before heading home.
Yeah, this spot's great. Let's go out.
All I gotta find is one big female,
and I'll feel that I've been real productive.
Troy, this is some prime snake real estate.
I think we got a good opportunity here.
Shoot, I don't know that anybody's been hunting on this.
It's hot and it's humid
and everything is against you out here.
Oh, man.
Good size skin here.
This means something's shedding.
This looks like a python skin.
Eight, nine feet just on the size
of the scales on the bottom.
This means that we're gonna find something out here.
Oh, Tes, Tes, Tes, hurry up.
-Got one? -Look.
[laughs]
-Aah! -Holy crap.
Grab the tail, Tes.
It's trying to get in the canal.
I got his tail. He's not going anywhere.
-Aah! -Watch it, watch it.
Dude, look at the size of this thing.
Ugh! This is a beast.
-Troy, Troy, Troy, be careful. -Oh, God.
This one's mad.
Oh!
Wear him down. You gotta wear him down.
Okay, Tes, I got his attention.
-You got him? You got him? -You gonna grab him?
Hold him-- I got it, I got it!
-You got it? -Aah! Aah.
Oh, my gosh.
He was getting down to that water, man.
Either it's been eating good or it's full of eggs.
Let's put this in the bag and get it back
and get back on our way.
-Man, if this was eggs... -Okay, get the bag, get the bag.
...this would be a huge find.
I'm glad that we took this approach.
This has been a successful pivot for us.
Getting hot, huh?
Let's take a break. Gimme five.
Sit down right there. Let's take five minutes.
I need a break.
-This gonna hold both of us? -I'm getting old.
As another day of extreme temperatures
scorches the Everglades,
Troy and Tes are finally ready to head out.
Good job, Cinderella.
Getting these suckers out of here.
Love it, I love it.
Snakes like it to be
-real sunny and hot. -Yup.
As they head back after an exhausting night
of hunting that produced one python,
Ashley and Kaylyn haven't lost hope of catching a second.
These ferns right here are so perfect.
They are.
It's like got the perfect shade.
It's like snake territory.
The main thing with python hunting
is just having determination.
You've got to be motivated.
You're still working out here in the absolute harsh,
harsh heat conditions, and a lot of these animals
are coming, and they're getting underneath the shade,
which is gonna bring the snakes there
because the snakes wanna be anywhere
that the food source is.
-Nothing? -Nothing.
Oh, look. Look at the raccoon, look at the raccoon.
Oh, my gosh, look at him.
Come here, baby.
It's okay. I'm not here to hurt you.
Come here. We'll keep you safe from those big old pythons.
I wish you could show us where the snakes are.
We know they're out here, and you're out here, too.
He acts like he knows that we're here to help him.
Yeah, yeah, he does.
He knows that people are out here trying to get
those mean old pythons out of here for him.
Baby, come here.
Although this friendly raccoon
is not what they were hoping for,
it is exactly the type of encouraging sight
the hunters needed to call it a day.
He was a pretty decent size.
Coming across this raccoon,
this is the most life we've seen
on any of the islands we've worked.
This is a good sign for us regardless.
Though the problem's not eradicated,
we made a massive impact.
He's been eating good, too.
He has. He was cute.
Time to call it a day.
Back at Dusty's...
Knock, knock.
-Dusty. -What's up?
Troy and Tes have brought the big female they caught
for an autopsy and processing.
There's something in there.
Oh, yeah, loaded down.
Cut that open, Dusty. I wanna see what that is.
What you think, eggs or no eggs?
Definitely eggs.
You can just see them through the fat,
poking through.
What's your guess?
Twenty-three.
Fourteen.
Oof, that smells.
Oh, my...
-[whistles] -We only got a few more days,
and we been pushing hard for the last six, seven weeks.
We getting kind of tired,
so, you know, sometimes we gotta stop
and take a little break.
But you know in your heart
that you gotta just keep pushing and keep pushing
because as Dusty says, when you find a big female,
you take generations of snakes out of the Everglades.
-How many? -Looks like 20 eggs.
That's a good stop,
catching fricking, you know, 20 snakes with one capture.
Y'all wanna peel this thing for me before y'all leave?
-Yeah, we can help. -Absolutely.
-Go ahead. -Ready?
Watch them eggs.
One, two, three.
-Easy does it. -Perfect.
Think how many wallets I can get out of that.
Thank you for the help, dude. Thank you.
You're welcome, brother.