‘Sometimes the snake wins.’ Florida python hunter gets his own reality show

You’ve heard of TV’s “The Bounty Hunter.”

Now get ready for The Python Hunter.

That’s not the title of Discovery Channel’s new show that centers around Dusty Crum, who wrangles snakes for a living in the Everglades. But it could have been a working title at some point.

“Guardians of the Glades,” which premiered 10 p.m. Tuesday, follows Crum and his crew at the South Florida Water Management District’s Python Elimination Program. The 25 professionals have captured more than 2,070 pythons since the program began in March 2017.

On his website, pythonwildman.com, Crum touts his personal accomplishments.

As of Wednesday, the Sarasota native (who prefers to do his dirty work barefoot) helped eliminate more than 1,758 pythons, which can grow up to 20 feet long.

How important is this undertaking?

“The speed with which hunters are finding and eliminating these destructive snakes showcases not only their dedication to the effort, but also the enormity of this invasive predator problem in the Everglades,” SFWMD Governing Board Chairman Dan O’Keefe said in a statement soon after the program began. “Every one of [the] snakes killed helps ensure the lives of hundreds of native species essential to the Everglades ecosystem.”

Burmese pythons were introduced locally in the 1990s by snake owners who released them into the wild when they got too big to handle. In the last 10 years, the numbers have tripled. The invasive reptiles have all but mostly wiped out local populations of raccoons, opossums, marsh rabbits, bobcats and other small mammals in the Everglades. The enormous snakes have even been known to munch on alligators.

“It’s 50-50, you know. Who’s gonna win? Sometimes the gator wins, sometimes the snake wins,” the so called Wild Man said on a 92.1 CTQ radio interview Wednesday. “It’s scary...shocking.”

In the trailer, tensions run high as he and his intrepid group go to war in the Everglades. In one scene, a sizable slithering creature wraps itself around a woman’s neck.

“We got to get this under control,” says Crum in the clip. “We’re on the front line of this battle.”

This story was originally published May 30, 2019 at 11:20 AM.