A national television film crew followed the lives of three real-life Burmese python hunters as they hiked through the Everglades in search of the non-native constrictor snakes that can weigh up to 200 pounds and extend up to 23 feet in length.
The results of the dramatic footage will air 10 p.m. Monday on Nat Geo WILD, a division of National Geographic, and follows the trio of adventurers as they comb the swampy, marshy region armed with hooks, specimen bags and off-road vehicles to nab the reptiles.
One of the adventurers featured is herpetologist Shawn Heflick, of Central Florida
, who says the best weapon to capture the slithery beasts is a basic one: his bare hand.
“I’ve done it around the world. I use my bare hands and it’s like riding a bicycle. There are rules and if you break them you pay for them,” Heflick told CBS4.com in a telephone interview.
He said in one episode, a snake attempted to bite Heflick’s groin and as he pushed him away, the snake sunk its teeth into his shorts.
“I jump up and its dancing up with my shorts,” Heflick said followed by a chuckle.