‘For the thrill’: Huntress aiming to educate Florida residents on pythons’ impact to ecosystem

By Scott Heidler

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    BREVARD COUNTY, Florida (WESH) — Amy Siewe is probably not who you would expect to be the self-proclaimed python huntress.

She recollected the trip that sparked it all.

“Wow, I’ve got to go down and see what is happening with these pythons. So I went on vacation, caught a python, and I was hooked,” Siewe said.

Obsessed with snakes as a child, Siewe was a real estate broker in Indiana, but packed it all in four years ago.

“I said, listen, I got to go to Florida. I have to figure out what it’s going to take to become a python hunter,” Siewe said.

And she did and now runs her own business taking people out on hunts.

“Once I got here, I learned about the devastation of the pythons and everything that’s happening with the ecosystem. But not only with the pythons but all of the invasive species,” Siewe said.

Pythons are not indigenous to Florida, so their introduction and rapid growth as an apex predator disrupts the natural food chain.

Siewe’s interest shifted.

“It was for the thrill initially, but then it really became more of a conservation effort,” Siewe said.

Mostly found in south Florida, the invasive pythons are making their way up north to Central Florida more frequently now.

A 12-footer was found in Brevard County in early November.

“They are definitely moving. They are following the food. And while it took us so long to figure this out, that it was a problem. Because they are cryptic and they are so hard to find. And it’s almost too late by the time you know they are there,” Siewe said.

Part of her role, as she sees it, is to educate those she takes out on hunts about just how delicate the ecosystem is and the disruption caused when it’s invaded.

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