iStockphoto / Artur Bogacki / dwi septiyana
Burmese python and eggs in Florida
Invasive Burmese pythons have been proliferating throughout South Florida for decades. These invasive snakes possess near-perfect camouflage to blend into the natural surroundings of the Florida Everglades and they have wreaked havoc on the native fauna.
In the fight to stop these Burmese pythons from completely altering the South Florida ecology, field biologists have begun deploying robotic rabbits in order to lure the elusive snakes in for capture. This strategy is proving to work remarkably well.
First Look At Robotic Rabbits Used To Capture Burmese Pythons In Florida
A number of strategies have been employed in recent years to capture and humanely dispatch these invasive pythons. Those range from putting the snakes on the menu at a pizza joint in Everglades City to the state hosting the annual Florida Python Challenge where python wranglers/hunters are handsomely rewarded for each invasive Burmese python removed from the wild. The 2026 Florida Python Challenge saw 280 snakes removed from the wild with the largest among them measuring 16 feet and 5 inches long.
Raising awareness about the very serious threat these invasive snakes pose to native Florida wildlife is a large part of the fight to protect the wetlands, but innovating new strategies on capturing these elusive snakes that are so well camouflaged they can hide in plain sight is another massive piece of the puzzle.
The news team from NBC 6 South Florida got the first look at robotic rabbits which are being used to lure in these snakes and they are working remarkably well. Check it out:
Suffice it to say, the future is now.
For those unaware, the Burmese python is among the longest snake species on planet earth. They are right up there with the reticulated python though when it comes to weight they pale in comparison to the Green Anaconda.
While not the longest or the heaviest, they are still the biggest snakes in Florida by a mile. This 18-foot-long Burmese python was captured back in May of this year:
The fact that field biologists are able to use robotic rabbits to capture these massive snakes is incredible.