Over 80 Snakes Caught! Meet the Winners of the 2020 Python Bowl

By: Discovery

Guardians of the Glades Star Mike “Python Cowboy” Kimmel is the 2020 Python Bowl Champion!

In 1992, almost 1,000 Burmese pythons escaped into the Florida Everglades. Today, their population has exploded to over 300,000. This invasive species is not only decimating the native wildlife populations in the Everglades, but they threaten the ecosystem of the entire Southeastern region of the United States.

More than 750 people from 20 states registered to participate in the 10-day competition. All who registered were required to pass a mandatory online training. The competitors were split into 3 categories: Pros, Rookies, and Active Service Members or Veterans.

Guardians of the Glades star Mike “Python Cowboy” Kimmel was crowned the 2020 Python Bowl champion after he removed eight invasive pythons from the wild! Former champion, Dusty “Wildman” Crum was unable to repeat, but he did earn a second-place prize in the heaviest python category.

Here are the full competition results:

Most Pythons

  • Pro grand prize winner Mike Kimmel won a TRACKER 570 Off Road ATV for removing eight pythons.
  • Rookie grand prize winner Kristian Hernandez won a TRACKER 570 Off Road ATV for removing six pythons.
  • Pro second prize winner Lindsey Floyd won $750 for removing six pythons.
  • Rookie second prize winner Ethan O’Neil won $750 for removing four pythons.
  • Active service member or veteran winner Barry Offenburger (U.S. Army) won $1,000 for removing three pythons.

Longest Python

  • Pro grand prize winner Tom Rahill won $2,000 for a 12-foot, 7.3-inch python.
  • Rookie grand prize winner Kristian Hernandez won $2,000 for an 11-foot, 6.5-inch python.
  • Pro second prize winner Amy Siewe won $750 for a 10-foot, 7-inch python.
  • Rookie second prize winner Dave Mucci won $750 for an 11-foot, .08-inch python.
  • Active service member or veteran winner Dave Mucci (U.S. Air Force) won $1,000 for an 11-foot, .08-inch python.

Heaviest Python

  • Pro grand prize winner Tom Rahill won $2,000 for a 62-pound python.
  • Rookie grand prize winner Dave Mucci won $2,000 for a 49.4-pound python.
  • Pro second prize winner Dustin Crum won $750 for a 35.9-pound python.
  • Rookie second prize winner Kristian Hernandez won $750 for a 48.1-pound python.
  • Active service member or veteran winner Dave Mucci
    (U.S. Air Force) won $1,000 for a 49.4-pound python.

Watch Mike “Python Cowboy” Kimmel’s road to glory at Discovery.com/PythonBowl

Next Up

Bobcat on the Hunt

Nature photographer Ian Shive gets a rare close-up of a bobcat hunting ground squirrels in California's Central Coast.

Photographing Sequoia National Park with a Smartphone

As a photographer, I love giving myself technical limitations.

Year in Review: Nature in Focus Adventures

For many years I've looked back on the year in review and thought about all of the incredible adventures I've experienced and this year is no exception.

Great Migrations

Brrrrr it’s getting cold out, the days are shorter and soon it’ll be winter! Fall means that more than 4 billion birds will stream overhead on their fall migration to warmer grounds down south, where they will feed and mate.

Caves to Condors: Uncovering Pinnacles National Park

Photographer and conservationist Ian Shive explores one of the lesser known National Parks, Pinnacles National Park, finding rare wildlife and extraordinary landscapes along the way.

Explore the Rugged, Remote Chaco Canyon in New Mexico

Photographer and conservationist Ian Shive photographs one of the most remote and rugged parts of the United States to take us on a journey to Chaco Canyon in New Mexico's Chaco Culture National Historical Park.

Shark Week: The Podcast - Superstar Kesha Lifts the Gag Order on Saving Sharks

Pop superstar Kesha joins Shark Week’s Luke Tipple on the podcast to discuss her love of sharks, how her music funds her addiction to diving, and how you can find inner peace while under the water. And at the end, our researcher Sierra drops in to tell us that some sharks have teeth in their eyes.

Shark Week: The Podcast - Undiscovered Sharks and the State of the Ocean

Luke Tipple invites “The Lost Shark Guy,” Dr. Dave Ebert, who is personally responsible for finding dozens of shark species that were either previously unknown to science or thought to be extinct. He and Luke discuss why shark populations are a direct indicator of how healthy the ocean is, how to find undiscovered sharks, and why diversity in sharks is essential for marine life.

Shark Week: The Podcast - Why is Tagging Baby Great White Sharks So Important?

Luke Tipple speaks with Dr. Riley Elliott, a marine biologist from New Zealand who recently tagged baby great white sharks, which are rarely seen in the wild. They talk about how climate change is affecting shark pupping grounds, why fishers are wrong to think there are “too many sharks,” and about Dr. Elliott’s Great White App, which allows users to track great white sharks in the ocean.

Shark Week: The Podcast - Shipwrecked & Surrounded by Sharks

This week, we do things a little differently, as Shark Week’s Luke Tipple invites Adventure Aaron into the podcast studio to talk about his incredible near-death experience on the open water. Adventure Aaron gets into what it takes to circumnavigate the world in an ocean rowboat, what it’s like to stare eye-to-eye with an oceanic white tip that probably wants you for lunch, and everything else that happened to him when his boat was capsized, and he was lost by himself at sea.