Florida's Great Python Challenge Is Over; Not Many Are Caught

Florida's Great Python Challenge Is Over; Not Many Are Caught Enlarge this image toggle caption Wilfredo Lee/AP Wilfredo Lee/AP After all the hoopla and news of people buying tools to catch Burmese pythons invading Florida, the state's monthlong hunt for them is over. The point is to raise public awareness, according to Professor Frank Mazziotti of the University of Florida, who told NPR's Talk of the Nation that many pythons were former pets whose owners released them. Try this on for size: NPR's Greg Allen reports scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey nabbed the largest Burmese python ever in the Everglades last year. Humorist Dave Barry took an interest in the Python Challenge's success; the Miami resident recently described his most frightening herpetological moment to NPR's All Things Considered: "But several years ago, I was in my office, which is next to our swimming pool, and I reached for my diet soda and there was — I heard a hissing sound.