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Florida Man Won $10K By Doing What Most People Fear

Author Babs

I would love to win $10K, but not by doing this! Congratulations to Ronald Kieger of Marion County for doing something that I could never do. Im pretty sure this is something that you could not accomplish either seeing that half of the American population fears SNAKES! Have you heard of the Python Challenge? It’s takes place every year in the Florida Everglades which is about 4 hours from where I live in St. Petersburg. The Florida Python Challenge is a 10 day competition which encourages people to remove Burmese Pythons from seven Commission managed lands in South Florida.

Florida Man Wins $10K After Participating In The Florida Python Challenge

Florida Man Won $10K by Doing What Most People Fear

Ronald Kieger won $10K after he removed 20 Burmese Pythons from the Florida Everglades. Im happy for Kieger because after being the runner-up last year, he is now crowned king of the Florida Python Challenge. The challenge which took place over 10 days had 800 participants from all of the country and Canada. Others won money as well and all together the Florida Python Challenge dishes out $25K in prize money every year.

The money gets divided up into three categories. Those categories include, Professional, military and novice. This year over 195 Pythons were removed from the everglades. A congratulations is also in order for a Florida woman who won $2,500 after catching 19 pythons in the professional category. If you ever want to participate in the Florida Python Challenge, it takes place every year in August. The hunt is supposed to bring awareness to the invasive threat of Burmese Pythons in Florida. Pythons prey on mammals, birds and other reptiles. They can also spread diseases among animals that humans eat. Since 2000 about 22k pythons have been removed from out great state. Will you be participating in the Florida Python Challenge next year? Feel free to email me, [email protected]

Shandra “Babs” Littleton is a member of the WiLD Squad. She’s originally from Detroit but has spent most of her “grown-up” life in Fort Myers, Florida where she graduated from Florida Gulf Coast University. Babs loves to write about everything from Tampa concerts, to WiLD murders that happened in Florida, and her favorite businesses.

The 5 Most Dangerous Animals In Florida

There are a lot of dangerous animals in Florida. But if you ever wondered what the most dangerous are? This list was put together by A-Z Animals. Between 1999 and 2019 only 247 people in Florida died as a result of an animal attack. Florida ranks as the third deadliest state in the United States for animal attacks. Texas is number one with 520 and California is number two with 299. Those findings come from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

So, what is the first animal that you think of when you think dangerous in Florida? You probably think of the Alligator, but that isn’t the number one overall dangerous animal in Florida. The Great White Shark is the most dangerous animal in Florida. While not on the land in Florida Great White Sharks swim the waters around the state of Florida. Back in 2020 Florida had 16 shark bites on record. Second was Hawaii with only five.

The Most Dangerous Animals Not In The Top 5

The dangerous animals in Florida that didn’t make the top five are some that you may have thought could’ve been higher. Firstly, number six on the list is the Black Widow Spider followed by the Florida Panther. The Florida Panther is the state animal. It was chosen in 1982 by a vote of students throughout the state. Following the Florida Panther on the list is the Wild Boar. You can find the Wild Boar in all 67 counties of Florida. Their estimated population is over half a million.

Next is the Timber Rattlesnake. It is also known as the canebreak rattlesnake and it is a species of pit viper. The Timber Rattlesnake has a Chevron pattern and a stripe running down its body. Finally, coming in number 10 on the list is the American Crocodile. They are found along the coast of Florida as north as the Hillsborough/Pasco County border on the west side of Florida.

Below, you can find the top five most dangerous animals in Florida.

  • Great White Shark

    Yes, Great White Sharks are found in the waters around Florida. A almost 1,200 pound shark that was almost 13 feet in length was tracked back in March of this year.

    great white shark in Isla Guadalupe in Mexico

  • Bull Shark

    #1 and #2 on the list are sharks. They are in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. They grow to about 11 feet and can live about 24 years.

    Bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas) swims through deep water off Mexico Yucatan Peninsula.

     

  • Alligator

    Alligators live in all 67 counties in Florida. You can find alligators in any body of water including lakes, ponds, rivers, marshes, swamps and man-made canals. We’ve seen multiple reports this year of gator attacks, even some fatal ones.

    American Alligator swimming in the spring swamp in Texas

  • Eastern Dimondback Rattlesnake

    They are found in pine flatwoods, longleaf pine and turkey oak hammocks, sand pine scrub areas, and coastal barrier islands. Yes it is venomous.

    Eastern diamondback rattlesnake from Big Cypress National Preserve (adjacent to Everglades National Park), Florida

  • Cottonmouth Snake

    It is venomous and can be found throughout Florida. It is called a cottonmouth because of the white color of the inside of its mouth.

    Florida Cottonmouth or water moccasin snake, close up

 

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