Slithering through the Florida Everglades are an estimated 100,000 to 300,000 invasive Burmese pythons, which threaten the native ecosystem by preying on local birds, mammals, and other reptiles.
But there's a "python cowboy" in town, and his trusty steed — a blind dog nicknamed "Helen Killer" — is helping address the problem by sniffing out one python at a time.
NBC2 News reported on the amazing partnership, talking to Helen's owner and handler, Mike Kimmel, who hunts down these invasive snakes to help eradicate them from the wild.
"Pythons are pretty much the hardest thing I hunt," Kimmel told the news station. "Success rate is usually pretty low. So any tool we can use to kind of give us a leg up and an advantage, I knew we needed to use."
He noted that, ironically, Helen's lack of vision — she's not just seeing-impaired but has no eyes at all — has helped to amplify her sense of smell, which is what makes her such a good python hunter. Kimmel called his rescue pup a "one-in-a-million companion."
NBC2 News shared footage from one of Helen's recent successful python tracks. Helen wagged her tail as Kimmel petted her, saying: "Who says a blind dog can't hunt?"
Newsweek reported that Burmese pythons were introduced to the Everglades in the 1970s and 1980s as a result of the exotic pet trade. Some owners intentionally released their snakes into the wild when they found care to be too difficult, while other releases were accidental. Since then, the population has exploded, and the pythons have been breeding in the wild since at least 2000, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History.
These gargantuan predators have been linked to severe declines in mammal populations in Everglades National Park, the U.S. Geological Survey reported, citing a 2012 study that pointed to a 99.3% decline in raccoons, a 98.9% decline in opossums, and an 87.5% decline in bobcats since 1997.
But it's not just smaller animals at stake. A more recent study found that pythons can consume prey far larger than previously thought. The researchers even documented these snakes swallowing massive animals such as alligators. One python devoured a 77-pound deer.
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Should the government be paying people to hunt invasive species?
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Definitely 👍 That's why Florida encourages python hunters and even holds an annual competition in which participants trap and humanely kill as many Burmese pythons as possible.
This work is not just good for the area's wildlife, but it also helps protect important ecosystem benefits for humans. According to the National Wildlife Federation, the Everglades provide drinking water to more than 8 million Floridians, protect communities from weather disasters like hurricanes and floods, and generate around $150 million of direct spending annually in Everglades National Park alone.
In the future, Kimmel said he'd like to see the state get behind some kind of dedicated program to get more dogs out hunting pythons.
"I feel like they're not utilizing the dogs like they need to be," he told NBC2 News.
As far as Helen's amazing snake-tracking abilities, Kimmel told the outlet in another article: "As soon as her feet hit the ground, she gets to work. Watching her lock onto a scent and find a snake is just incredible."
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