Florida Women Dominate 2025 Python Challenge, Break Records

Florida's ongoing war against Burmese pythons has led to new records and the crowning of a new serpent slayer: a Naples woman who vanquished a whopping 60 of the pesky invaders during the 2025 edition of the euphemistically labeled Florida Python Challenge.

The state-sanctioned ten-day event, which ran July 11–20, is part of broader efforts to protect the Everglades and Florida from invasive species. Nonvenomous reptiles that can grow to more than 18 feet long and weigh more than 200 pounds, Burmese pythons were first detected in the national park in 1979. Over the ensuing decades, they've thrived to the point where they're considered one of the most damaging invasive species in Florida history.

When the tallying concluded earlier this week, Naples resident Taylor Stanberry claimed the grand prize of $10,000, presented by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

Stanberry's body count: 60 pythons. As far as New Times can determine, she is the first Florida Woman to take home the big bounty.
This year, more than 900 snake wranglers from 30 states dispatched 294 Burmese pythons, a record-setting number, according to the FWC. Stanberry appears to have shattered the previous record of 41 pythons removed in 2021, although comprehensive data for the event's 13-year history wasn't immediately available. (FWC representatives didn't return multiple calls and emails requesting comment and clarification.)

Stanberry's tally exceeded the last two winners' totals combined; Ronald Kiger won in 2024 with 20 pythons and Paul Hobbs triumphed in 2023, when he bagged 20.

"The 2025 Florida Python Challenge can go in the books as a success thanks to the hard work of staff, generous support from our partners, continued leadership of Governor DeSantis, and involvement of the many competitors in this year’s event," FWC Chairman Rodney Barreto said in a written statement. "The record number of invasive pythons removed from the Everglades during this year’s competition is a big win for native wildlife."

Since the event's inception in 2013, hunters have removed more than 1,400 pythons, Barreto noted.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the Florida Python Challenge has not transpired without controversy. Though the FWC favors figurative language along the lines of "pythons removed," participants kill the snakes as they capture them. In 2016, the nonprofit People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) protested the event, decrying the then-common lethal method of decapitation. Nowadays, the Python Challenge requires adherence to the American Veterinary Medical Association's (AVMA) recommendation for a two-step process meant to prevent suffering and destroy the animal's brain.

This year Florida Men got a run for their money, with women dominating the final standings. All told, $25,000 in prize money was awarded.

2025 Florida Python Challenge Winners

Grand prize ($10,000): Taylor Stenberry, 60 pythons

Most pythons, professional division ($2,500): Donna Kalil, 56 pythons

Most pythons runner-up, professional division ($1,500): Hannah Gray, 22 pythons

Longest python, professional division ($1,000): Kennith Chamberland, 9'1"

Most pythons, novice division ($2,500): Krista Hoekstra, 14 pythons

Most pythons runner up, novice division ($1,500): Kymberly Clark, 7 pythons

Longest python, novice division ($1,000): Michael Marousky, 15'11"