Florida Snake Hunter Saves Alligator From 10-Foot Python

HOMESTEAD, FL — When the sun goes down over the Florida Everglades, it is not uncommon to see Mike "Python Cowboy" Kimmel driving his specially outfitted truck up and down the surrounding levees looking for invasive Burmese pythons. There is one alligator out there that should be particularly grateful Kimmel happened by Friday night. The professional snake hunter literally wrestled the small gator out of the jaws of a 10-foot python just before the gator became a late supper.

"It was in the water," Kimmel told Patch, saying that he didn't hesitate to wade into the swamp to save the alligator's life. "It's pretty clear. The alligator is native. It's a part of the Everglades, so I'm there to protect it and the python I'm there to capture and euthanize."

After a brief struggle that was captured on video, Kimmel returned the four-foot alligator to the Florida swamp where it came from. He destroyed the snake under the South Florida Water Management District's wildly successful Python Elimination Program, which recently celebrated the removal of its 1,000th python.

"I get paid by the state to go out in the swamp in the Everglades, track, find and kill pythons," explained Kimmel who is personally responsible for about one tenth of all of the snakes removed by the program.

The alligator rescue was rare, but not unprecedented.

"This is the third time I'm rescuing an alligator, but the first time I really got it on footage," said Kimmel, who operates Martin County Trapping & Removals as well as Martin County Wildlife Rescue. "This is actually the smallest alligator I've rescued."

An average of three pythons have been eliminated per day since the program was hatched by the South Florida Water Management District to curb the exploding python population in March of 2017.

On a good night, Kimmel said he can bring in six pythons.

Kimmel and the other snake hunters earn minimum wage for up to eight hours each day plus a significant bonus for every python they find. For example, hunters receive an on-the-spot payment of $50 for pythons measuring up to 4 feet and an extra $25 for each foot measured above 4 feet. Hunters earn an additional $200 for every eliminated python nest with eggs.

"A lot of the python hunters seem to catch out of the water," Kimmel explained. "I don't know why, but it seems I catch 90 percent of my pythons in the water. I usually have to go in and swim after them — and all that kind of good stuff."

Kimmel said he drives along the levees at night from sunset to sunrise to find the elusive pythons as they search for food and mates. His truck is outfitted with lights all around.

"These levees are literally through the middle of the Everglades," he explained.

He and his fellow python hunters were selected from more than 1,000 applicants and given access to District-owned lands in Miami-Dade County for the pilot phase and later in Broward and Collier counties as the program expanded.

To understand how destructive the snakes have been, a 2015 University of Florida study released 95 adult marsh rabbits in areas known to harbor pythons. Within 11 months of their release in the Everglades, the study found that pythons accounted for 77 percent of the rabbit deaths.

"It's not something everyone can do," Kimmel said of his role as a python hunter. But he said that the hunters appear to be finally making a difference. "We are dropping the numbers. We are keeping them contained and we are giving wildlife a chance to grab a hold again and fill the Everglades."

But it will take time.

"All the wildlife is gone. It's amazing," Kimmel said. "There's no raccoons. There's no rabbits. There's no possums. There's some birds — some Cranes, but not like you would think — barely any deer, barely any hog. Then you have pythons and alligators. I see more pythons than I do any other snake."

Kimmel said he isn't exactly sure that the alligator he saved is grateful.

"I don't think he knew much of what was going on," Kimmel acknowledged. "I don't think he was too grateful."

Watch below as Kimmel jumps into action to save the gator:

Photo and video courtesy Mike Kimmel