Florida wants you to kill as many of the invasive Burmese pythons as you can during the 10-days contest in July. But you can't shoot them.

Snake hunters across Florida are participating in the annual “Python Challenge.” The goal of the 10-day event is to remove invasive Burmese pythons from the state. The Python Challenge began at midnight on Friday and will conclude on July 20. The challenge offers a $10,000 cash prize to the hunter who removes the most pythons.

The 2025 Florida Python Challenge, a competition to remove invasive Burmese pythons, runs from July 11 to 20. Ahead of the 2025 Florida Python Challenge, the Naples Daily News and The News-Press interviewed Zac Chejanovski, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Python Management Coordinator.