Opossums vs. Pythons: Inside Florida's Unusual Strategy for Fighting Invasive Snakes

Florida scientists are using opossums to secretly track invasive Burmese pythons in the Everglades-and it's working.

GPS-collared opossums help track Florida pythons after being eaten

Contractors with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Thomas Aycock, left, and Tom Rahill, founder of the Swamp Apes, a veterans therapy nonprofit, show off an invasive Burmese python caught earlier, as they wait for sunset to hunt pythons, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in the Florida Everglades. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Why Florida scientists are putting GPS collars on opossums to track giant Burmese pythons

A bizarre discovery in Florida: GPS-collared opossums are now helping researchers hunt invasive Burmese pythons.

Florida scientists found an unlikely python-tracking trick after a snake ate an opossum

Scientists found a shocking way to track Florida's invasive pythons: let the snakes swallow GPS-collared opossums.

Florida's python hunt coming soon. What to know about the reigning champ

Here's what we know about the 2026 Florida Python Challenge, how the yearly hunt works and a little bit about last year's winner.
AOL

A Routine Hunt in the Everglades Turned Into a Record-Breaking Python Capture

In the annals of record-breaking animals, there is big, and then there is Florida python big. Leave it to a professional python hunter to encounter one of the more impressive specimens in the history of the Sunshine State. Capturing this creature required ...