Former real estate professional Amy Siewe joins the fight against the growing python problem in Florida
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will host its annual python removal competition in August
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Former real estate professional Amy Siewe joined Fox News analyst Kat Timpf to discuss her transformation into a python huntress on "Fox News Saturday Night."
"I am so glad every single day that I made that leap, absolutely," said Siewe, who lives in Florida, where giant snakes pose a danger to residents and the environment.
Siewe, who spent 13 years in real estate, shared that she is not the only woman in Florida with an interest in hunting pythons.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It's not really about a male-female thing, it's like, it's kind of a snake thing," she said. "We're all really into snakes. I hunt with other women, I hunt with the men, we go out in groups, we go out separately."
Timpf asked Siewe to break down how she goes on the hunt.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We are driving in the back of the truck and I have this huge snake deck out there, so it's this platform to raise us up even higher, and we are going down the roads and levees super slow with our life packs on," Siewe said. "As soon as we see a python, we yell, ‘Python!’ jump out of the truck and we jump on it. So it's all live-capture in the field and then once we capture it, then we dispatch it."
Clark said she captured video of the giant snake at Florida's Everglades National Park on Jan. 2. (Kymberly Clark via Storyful)
After the pythons are dispatched, Siewe said she takes them back to her condo, to which Timpf asked if she has ever warned her neighbors she brings snakes in.
SOUTH FLORIDA RESEARCHERS USE GPS-FITTED POSSUMS AND RACCOONS TO CAPTURE INVASIVE PYTHONS: REPORTS
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Siewe said her neighbors have become her biggest fans.
"I tried to keep it a secret as long as I could because I live literally in a snowbird condo in Florida, and so I was like, 'Oh, my gosh, all these people are going to hate me because I am a python hunter,' right? It turns out that they're all my biggest fans, they are rooting me on, they love seeing the snakes," she said. "Actually, some of them even help me skin the snakes. So it's become a really cool thing in the community."
Siewe urged other snake enthusiasts to take part in the upcoming python challenge this August, an event organized by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to reduce the python population.
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For those considering joining the fight, Siewe offered a piece of advice: Pythons are not easy to find.
"I thought when I moved down here that I was going to just be slinging them out of the swamp, left and right, no problem, but it is not like that at all. These pythons are so cryptic, and they are so camouflaged, and it is a perfect environment for them. So it is very, very difficult to find them. So you really do have to know what you're doing."