At night, Galan drives kilometers along cobblestone roads and gravel trails, shining his flashlight into the grass, tree roots, and along the riverbank in search of pythons.
Enrique Galan enthusiastically trudges through the Everglades wetlands to hunt Burmese pythons, an invasive species that has devastated the Florida ecosystem for decades. When he is not organizing cultural events in Miami, the 34-year-old spends his time tracking the nocturnal python species native to Southeast Asia. He is also a professional hunter hired by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to control the estimated population of tens of thousands of pythons, AFP reported on August 18.
Galan is a professional python hunter helping to control the Burmese python population in Florida. (Photo: AFP)
Galan is paid $13 per hour, and for each python he finds, he receives $50 if the snake is 1.2 meters long and $25 for every additional 30 centimeters. However, this August, Galan has extra motivation.
The FWC is hosting a 10-day python hunt with 800 participants. The prize is $2,500 for anyone who finds and kills the most pythons in each amateur and professional category. Galan is eager to win the money to celebrate the birth of his son, Jesus.
Burmese pythons were introduced to the U.S. as pets and have posed a threat to the Everglades since they were released into the wild in the late 1970s. They have no natural predators and primarily prey on other reptiles, birds, and mammals such as raccoons and white-tailed deer. Specimens in the Everglades average 1.8 to 2.7 meters in length. However, finding them at night in the vast wetland area of over 607,000 hectares requires skill and patience.
Galan has undergone training and is determined to succeed in his work. After two unsuccessful nights, he spotted the silhouette of a python on the highway. He jumped out of the truck and rushed toward the animal. It was a young Burmese python. Grabbing tightly behind the python’s head to avoid being bitten, Galan quickly placed it in a bag and secured it. He planned to euthanize it a few hours later with a pellet gun.
A few kilometers away, a massive python slithered across the asphalt road. Once again, Galan jumped out of the truck, but this time the python had hidden in the grass, leaving a strong odor behind. This is their defense mechanism. Galan has participated in online training but learned everything from Tom Rahill, the founder of the Swamp Apes association, established 15 years ago to help veterans cope with traumatic memories through python hunting. Galan takes pride in being part of a project that has eliminated over 17,000 pythons since 2000.
For several hours, Rahm Levinson, a veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, hunted alongside Rahill and Galan. “This activity helps me a lot instead of struggling at home. I can’t sleep at night and need something to do from midnight to 2 a.m. Catching pythons is a good activity,” Levinson shared.
