Snake fan hunts pythons in Florida to save other critters

FILE - In this Jan. 17, 2013, file photo, a captured 13-foot-long Burmese python is displayed for snake hunters and the media before heading out in airboats for the Python Challenge in the Florida Everglades. Florida is paying $8.10 an hour to hunt invasive Burmese pythons in the Everglades. Florida's wildlife commission also has announced new prizes and plans to hire additional contractors to boost python removals from state-managed lands. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter, File) FILE - In this Jan. 17, 2013, file photo, a captured 13-foot-long Burmese python is displayed for snake hunters and the media before heading out in airboats for the Python Challenge in the Florida Everglades. Florida is paying $8.10 an hour to hunt invasive Burmese pythons in the Everglades. Florida's wildlife commission also has announced new prizes and plans to hire additional contractors to boost python removals from state-managed lands. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter, File)

By Associated Press May 5, 2017 5 min read

IN THE FLORIDA EVERGLADES (AP) – Florida is paying $8.10 an hour to hunt invasive Burmese pythons in the Everglades, but Brian Hargrove says he’d work for free.

He’s enjoying special access to state-owned wetlands and reliving his teenage years, when catching snakes gave him something better to do than join a Miami gang. It’s the best job ever for a man with a cobra tattooed over his heart.

“I feel like I won the lottery, and I make minimum wage,” Hargrove said.

But he must kill the pythons he finds.

“The last thing I ever want to do is kill a snake,” he said. “I love snakes. It’s not their fault.”