Florida's lt. governor catches 15-foot-long python in Everglades

MIAMI -- Florida's lieutenant governor joined hunters paid by the state to stalk and shoot invasive Burmese pythons in the Everglades.

South Florida Water Management District spokesman Randy Smith says Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez Cantera went hunting Monday night with one of 25 hunters hired to kill pythons on district property.

• Burmese pythons are taking over the Everglades
• Men catch 15-foot-long, 144-pound python in the Florida Everglades

Smith says Tom Rahill and Lopez Cantera brought in a 15-foot-4-inch python. It was the 96th python caught by the district's hunters since March 25.

Cantera shared images of the python on Twitter. "Went yesterday with [the South Florida Water Management District] Python Elimination Program which removes destructive snakes that hurt the Everglades.

Rahill leads the "Swamp Apes" program taking veterans on hunts to remove invasive animals from the Everglades. He took Lopez Cantera hunting along a canal in western Miami-Dade County.

The district is paying $8.10 an hour in a python-killing pilot program ending June 1. Florida's wildlife agency also is hiring contractors to remove pythons from specific areas.

In:
• Miami