THE SNAKE CHARMERS

Invasive Burmese pythons are squeezing the life out of the Everglades. An unlikely sisterhood of the swamp is taking them on.

- Craig Pittman

For Beth Koehler and Peggy Van Gorder, this is how it works: Three days a week they run Hair of the Dog, their dog grooming salon in St. Petersburg, Florida. Then they close up shop, pick up their camper, and head down to the Everglades for three nights of hunting Burmese pythons—powerful constrictors that squeeze the life out of their prey.

Each night of the hunt, they spend hours slowly rolling along gravel back roads searching for the elusive invasive reptiles. They switch on massive lights atop their Jeep, lights that turn the night as bright as day. The humid air is filled with a subdued chorus of hoots and ribbits.

The younger, more athletic Van Gorder drives, never going more than about 6 mph, while Koehler, the more focused of the two, stands with her head through the sunroof, peering ahead for any sign of a snake.

The pair, known to their fellow python hunters as PegBeth, achieved some statewide fame in 2019 when they bagged the 500th python to be caught by hunters working for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. They’re not doing it for the money; there’s hardly any profit in searching for the slithery invaders. The job pays $8.46 an hour plus $50 per snake, with another $25-per-foot bonus for snakes longer than four feet. Some nights the pair comes up empty, meaning they are basically making minimum wage.

No, it’s not for the money. They’re doing it to save Florida’s wildlife.