Florida’s python bounty pays contracted removal agents $14, $20, or $30 an hour depending on the search area, plus $50 for each python up to four feet long and another $25 for every additional foot. Those payments come from the South Florida Water Management District’s Python Elimination Program, which also awards monthly bonuses and nest-discovery fees. A separate annual contest, the Florida Python Challenge, hands out up to $25,000 in prizes each summer. What you actually take home depends on where you’re assigned, how many snakes you find, and how big they are.
What the SFWMD Program Pays
The Python Elimination Program run by the South Florida Water Management District pays contracted agents in three stacking ways: an hourly rate for time in the field, a per-snake incentive, and monthly performance bonuses.
Hourly Pay
Agents bill up to ten hours per day at a rate set by the zone they’re assigned to. Regular areas pay $14 per hour, premium areas pay $20, and ultra-premium areas pay $30. The higher rates go with the more remote or harder-to-reach lands.1South Florida Water Management District. Python Elimination Program
Per-Python Bounty
On top of hourly pay, every python removed earns a base $50 for the first four feet of length, plus $25 for each additional foot. A seven-foot python pays $125. Agents also receive $200 for each verified active nest they document, and $50 for catching and releasing a research python that carries a tracking device.1South Florida Water Management District. Python Elimination Program
Monthly Bonuses
The district hands out $600 to the agent who catches the most pythons in a month and $400 to whoever catches the longest one. Additional bonuses of $300 to $1,500 are tied to variable capture goals that change month to month.1South Florida Water Management District. Python Elimination Program In 2025, the monthly top catchers pulled in anywhere from 8 snakes in a slow stretch to 87 in a productive one.
Florida Python Challenge Prizes
The Florida Python Challenge is a separate ten-day contest open to a much wider pool than the year-round SFWMD program. The person who removes the most pythons overall wins a $10,000 Ultimate Grand Prize. Within each of three categories (professional, novice, and military), the top catcher wins $2,500, the runner-up wins $1,500, and the longest snake earns $1,000. The full prize pool is $25,000.2Florida Python Challenge. Prizes
Challenge participants do not get hourly pay or per-snake bounties. Prizes are the only compensation.2Florida Python Challenge. Prizes
How to Apply for the SFWMD Program
Applications go through the SFWMD website. To qualify, you must:
- Be at least 18 years old
- Hold a valid driver’s license
- Have a valid email address
- Own an iOS or Android smartphone that can run the program’s GPS tracking and data apps
- Consent to GPS tracking during all program activities
- Sign a waiver of liability
- Pass a background check with no felony or wildlife-related conviction in the past seven years
- Have a bank account for direct deposit
Because the program gets more applicants than it has openings, the district contacts only those it selects and keeps the rest on file. Coverage areas span Monroe, Miami-Dade, Broward, Collier, Hendry, Lee, and Palm Beach counties.1South Florida Water Management District. Python Elimination Program
Training and Rules for the Kill
Before going into the field, you complete training that covers identifying Burmese pythons versus native Florida snakes, safe handling, and the approved humane killing method. The Florida Python Challenge requires its own online training each year, and prior years don’t carry over. Modules include video on searching for and safely capturing pythons.3Florida Python Challenge. Required Online Training
Snake identification matters. Several native species can resemble a Burmese python at a glance in low light or thick brush, and killing a protected native is a serious violation.
Burmese pythons aren’t a protected species in Florida, but anti-cruelty laws still apply. FWC requires a two-step humane process: render the snake unconscious immediately, then destroy the brain by pithing so it cannot regain consciousness.4Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Humane Killing Methods for Nonnative Reptiles Live transport is not allowed. The snake has to be killed at the capture site.5Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Removing Pythons
Where You Can Hunt
The rules split by land type.
Private land. You can humanely kill pythons any time on private property with the owner’s permission. No permit or hunting license required.5Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Removing Pythons
FWC-managed lands. Under Executive Order 23-16, pythons may be humanely killed year-round on 32 FWC commission-managed lands with no permit or license. Area-specific rules still apply, including tool restrictions and seasonal access limits at some sites.5Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Removing Pythons
Everglades National Park. Federal land is stricter. To search inside the park, you must register for the Florida Python Challenge, complete FWC training, and attend a one-time in-person orientation with National Park Service staff. You then receive an NPS Public Python Agent badge to carry while searching, which also grants fee-free park entry. Firearms, airboats, and drones are banned inside the park. Only hand tools are allowed: hooks, tongs, bags, and noose poles. You cannot disturb research equipment such as live traps or game cameras, and commercial python-hunting tours inside the park are not currently permitted.6National Park Service. Florida Python Challenge Everglades National Park Rules and Regulations
Firearms are allowed for python removal in many other locations, but rules vary by site. Check the specific area before you go.
How the Work Gets Verified
Once accepted and trained, agents survey their assigned zones on foot, by vehicle, or by boat. A GPS app on the smartphone verifies location and search hours, which is how billable time gets confirmed.1South Florida Water Management District. Python Elimination Program
Each removal is documented through the program’s electronic data system, including the snake’s length, which sets the bounty amount. Carcasses are submitted at designated drop-off points or checked in virtually with staff.
Agents provide all their own gear: snake hooks, tongs, bags, and whatever vehicle or boat gets them to their area.7South Florida Water Management District. FAQ Python Elimination Program Fuel, replacement gear, and vehicle maintenance come out of your own pocket.
Taxes and Contractor Status
Python removal agents are independent contractors, not employees. Every payment (hourly, per-python, and bonus) is taxable income.8Internal Revenue Service. Publication 525 – Taxable and Nontaxable Income If SFWMD payments to you reach $600 or more in a year, expect a Form 1099.
You also owe self-employment tax of 15.3% on net earnings, which covers both the Social Security and Medicare portions an employer would normally split with you.9Internal Revenue Service. Self-Employment Tax (Social Security and Medicare Taxes) That’s on top of regular income tax. Agents who don’t set money aside during the year can face a bill they weren’t ready for.
The upside of contractor status is that you can deduct ordinary business expenses. Hooks, tongs, capture bags, fuel, vehicle wear, boots, headlamps, and smartphone data charges can all offset python income. If this becomes a meaningful share of what you make, quarterly estimated payments are worth considering to avoid underpayment penalties.
What Agents Actually Earn
The pay structure looks generous on paper, but the take-home depends heavily on catches. Pythons are camouflage experts that can sit motionless in dense vegetation for hours. Some months, the top SFWMD catcher removes more than 80 snakes; other months, the leader clears fewer than 10. Most agents fall well below the top numbers.
Florida’s combined removal programs have taken roughly 1,600 to 3,000 pythons per year since launch, with over 2,700 removed in the first eight months of 2025. Spread across all active agents, that’s a modest per-person average. Hourly pay provides a baseline, but an agent working a regular $14-per-hour zone with few catches will earn less than many conventional jobs after equipment, fuel, self-employment tax, and long nights in the swamp.
Agents in ultra-premium zones at $30 an hour, catching consistently, can do considerably better when nest payments and monthly bonuses stack up. The program rewards persistence and local knowledge, and catch rates tend to improve with experience in the terrain. Even so, this is not work most people get rich doing. It suits people already comfortable in the Everglades who count the ecological mission as part of the pay.