The annual Florida Python Challenge is back as the state continues its efforts to curb the population of invasive Burmese pythons.

The number of Python Challenge participants has fluctuated through the years including a high of nearly 1,600 in 2013. Meet the 2025 winner, Taylor Stanberry.

The number of Python Challenge participants has fluctuated through the years including a high of nearly 1,600 in 2013. Meet the 2025 winner, Taylor Stanberry.

Last week, python hunters in the Big Cypress Preserve, led by conservationist Mike Elfenbein, nabbed the second-heaviest python ever recorded in Florida.

She keeps python carcasses in a big “dead people freezer” in her garage — “That was my Christmas gift from Dave one year,” she said — and skins them in the lanai of her condo.

The shockingly huge Burmese python weighed 198 pounds and measured over 17 feet in length.

The number of Python Challenge participants has fluctuated through the years including a high of nearly 1,600 in 2013. Meet the 2025 winner, Taylor Stanberry.