and they 're eating basically everything in sight . That 's the problem , '' Wasilewski said of the Burmese python . Volunteers like Wasilewski , happy to grasp the problem and the snakes with both hands , are not the only troops in Florida 's war on the invading pythons . A `` Python Patrol '' was launched in the Florida Keys , south of the Everglades , by Alison Higgins of the Nature Conservancy . Her program uses utility workers , wildlife officials , park rangers and police to keep an eye out for snakes and trains them to capture any they find . `` The Burmese pythons that are coming out of the Everglades are eating a lot of our endangered species and other creatures , and we want to make sure they do n't breed here , '' said Higgins , the conservation manager for the Keys . It is believed that the problem originated when reptile-breeding facilities near the Everglades were destroyed during Hurricane Andrew . Compounding the problem is the release of these snakes by pet owners . `` These pets were released by owners that do not understand the threat to the ecosystem
THE EVERGLADES , Florida -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Joe Wasilewski drives along a narrow stretch of road through Florida 's Everglades . The sun is setting , night is coming on quickly , and Wasilewski is on the prowl for snakes -- and one snake in particular . Reptile expert Joe Wasilewski holds a Burmese python he found in the Florida Everglades . `` The next 10 miles seem to be the hot spot for Burmese pythons , '' he said . Wasilewski is a state-sanctioned snake-hunter who regularly scours this area for the reptiles . The Everglades , known as the River of Grass , has the perfect space and climate for pythons to hide and breed . And breed they do : The largest clutches found in the Everglades have contained 83 eggs . They are also speedy travelers , able to move across 1.6 miles of land every day , experts say . The travel lets people like Wasilewski hunt the snakes from the driver 's seat of his truck . But it also means that the problems created in the local ecosystem by the non-venomous snakes are spreading . `` It 's a large predator ,