Florida women win 2025 Python challenge with 60 snake haul
The 4-foot-11 Florida woman won the top prize at the 2025 Python Challenge after capturing 60 Burmese Pythons at a 10-day hunting event.
Fox-35 Orlando
The Florida woman caught 60 snakes on the state’s annual 10-day challenge, eliminating the invasive Burmese python species that wreaked havoc on the Everglades ecosystem.
Over 900 people participated in the 2025 Python Challenge. This made history with the first woman to win the Grand Prize in 2013 and two fronts, and took part in the 2025 Python Challenge, where the most complete snakes have appeared since the 2013 competition began.
Taylor Stanberry, a 29-year-old Naples resident, was featured on August 13th as the winner of the 2025 Florida Python Challenge. At 4 feet, 11 inches tall, Stanberry received the $10,000 grand prize to catch a $60 snake.
She is the first woman to win the Grand Prize at the Python Challenge in Florida.
Overall, the catch has also been monumental this year, with 294 Pisons being photographed. It was the most in the history of the contest.
The contest brings together amateur and professional snake catchers to hunt Pisons within certain zones in South Florida, threatening the state’s ecology and preying on birds, mammals and other reptiles. Challengers should capture and kill Pisons humanely, and do not harm native species.
Stanberry eliminated 33 women Pison and 27 men. The longest snake she caught was just over nine feet and weighed around 16 pounds.
“It’s a victory that all invasive Python was removed,” said Sarafunk, non-native fish and wildlife program program coordinator for the Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission.
At least one participant noted that the July hunt dates lined up new hatchings that crowded the wetlands of the southern part of the country, providing plenty of opportunities for hunters.
Donna Khalil, a contract hunter for the South Florida Water Management District, won 56 snakes in the Python challenge from July 11th to July 20th. She brought in 19 at the 2024 contest, where the event took place from August 9th to August 18th.
“It’s all for timing,” Khalil said. “There were a lot of little baby snakes coming out of the nest. Some were already eating. They came out and ready to eat.”
Burmese pythons breed in late winter and early spring, with women laying egg clutches in March or April. Incubation period lasts between 60 and 90 days. The hatch ring can be up to 2 feet long. This is a lot of what Khalil said she caught. Her longest snake measured 5 feet, 5 inches. Last year she brought in 12 footers.
“The only thing I got was a little guy,” she said.
Stanberry in Naples is a contract hunter with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Committee. She said she’s been hunting Pison for 10 years, but this was her first year in the challenge. According to her Facebook profile, she is a digital creator with an exotic animal sanctuary.
“There are a lot of amazing female python hunters, so I had some tough competition,” Stanberry said after leaving the FWC committee meeting on August 13, when the results were announced.
Stanberry said most of her catch is babies, but she did what she said was between 9.5 and 10 feet long.
Although participation this year has exceeded 2024, the number of hunters has fluctuated over the years from nearly 1,600 in 2013 to just 600 in the early days of the 2021 pandemic.
Participants hunted in designated areas spread out from West Palm Beach County to the Tamami Trail, a large Cypress Wildlife Management Area. Other management areas included in the Python Challenge are Holey Land, Rotenberger, and Southern Glades.
This was also the first year Everglades National Park allowed people to hunt in the park during the challenge.
What are the prizes for the Florida Python Challenge?
The $10,000 Grand Prize will be awarded to participants who remove the most snakes as part of the competition.
There are also three competitive categories, including experts, beginners and military. Each category includes $2,500 for most Pythons caught, $1,500 for the second highest number of Pythons, and $1,000 for the longest Python.
Participants can only win one award, so if someone wins two, they will be awarded the highest value award, and the next qualifying hunter will win the remaining awards.
Why hunting Pisons in Burmese?
Florida began hunting Pison seriously around 2012. It was the first year of the Python Challenge, and a study at Everglades National Park suggested that pythons are responsible for a decline of 85% to 100% in the population of medium-sized furry animals such as raccoons and rabbits.
According to the 2021 Florida Python Management Plan, Burma’s Python invasion began with a release (intentionally or not) that could have gained foothold in the park by the mid-1980s.
By 2000, multiple generations of pythons lived in the park. This is described in a 2023 report, over 100 pages, summarizing decades of Python research.
How many pythons have been caught?
Since 2019, more than 15,800 snakes have been removed by hunters from South Florida’s Water Management District and FWC.
Hunter was called “the most effective management strategy in the history of the matter” by the district’s invasive animal biologist Mike Kirkland.
Kimberly Miller is a journalist for Palm Beach Post, part of Florida’s USA Today network. She covers real estate, weather and environment.
