Tom Rahill has won the 2026 Florida Python Challenge, capturing a record 96 Burmese pythons in the Everglades over 10 days. Rahill, founder of SwampApes, an organization that takes military veterans with PTSD on python hunts, secured the competition's $10,000 grand prize.

His primary goal during the challenge was to help one of the veterans he works with secure a significant catch. Rahill reported achieving this mission by assisting a veteran in wrestling a 17-foot female python.

"I was on a mission to get one of our veterans a big snake," Rahill stated during a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission meeting. "I did it. And we wrestled this thing. That was the mission. To get him a big snake — it was a 17-foot female. The veteran was just over the moon."

Following this initial success, Rahill focused on increasing his total count, venturing deeper into the Everglades to find the remaining 96 snakes, all of which were captured within Everglades National Park.

The annual Florida Python Challenge attracted 907 participants from 30 states, Canada, and Vietnam. Competitors collectively removed 280 Burmese pythons from designated hunting areas across South Florida between July 10 and July 19.

Other notable winners included Christina Kraus, who took the professional division with 36 snakes, and defending champion Taylor Stanberry, who finished second overall with 34 pythons, earning $1,500. Rahm Levinson won the professional division's longest-python prize for a 16-foot, 5-inch snake.

Burmese pythons are an invasive species native to Southeast Asia that have significantly impacted native wildlife populations in the Everglades, contributing to declines in mammals such as raccoons, opossums, bobcats, foxes, marsh rabbits, and cottontail rabbits. Their camouflage and secretive nature make them difficult to locate, with estimates placing their population in the tens of thousands.

The competition, moved to the summer in recent years, coincides with the pythons' hatching season, allowing hunters to remove young snakes before they can further spread or prey on native wildlife. Officials from the FWC emphasize that every python removal is a victory for Florida's native ecosystem.