--- title: How to Catch a Python, in Five (Sort of) Easy Steps | TIME description: Have you ever thought to yourself, "Hey! I wish I knew how to catch a wild burmese python." Well, you probably haven't. But regardless, here are the 5 steps you need to know in case you run across one of them canonical: https://time.com/video/jvak2BiR/ og:title: How to Catch a Python, in Five (Sort of) Easy Steps og:description: Have you ever thought to yourself, "Hey! I wish I knew how to catch a wild burmese python." Well, you probably haven't. But regardless, here are the 5 steps you need to know in case you run across one of them og:url: https://time.com/video/jvak2BiR/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/jvak2BiR/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How to Catch a Python, in Five (Sort of) Easy Steps twitter:description: Have you ever thought to yourself, "Hey! I wish I knew how to catch a wild burmese python." Well, you probably haven't. But regardless, here are the 5 steps you need to know in case you run across one of them twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/jvak2BiR/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # How to Catch a Python, in Five (Sort of) Easy Steps > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Subscription: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923, reporting on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world. A TIME subscription provides full access to that journalism in print and digital, from $20 a year, and can be cancelled at any time. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: How to Catch a Python, in Five (Sort of) Easy Steps [Watch (HLS stream): How to Catch a Python, in Five (Sort of) Easy Steps](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/jvak2BiR.m3u8) (4:34)  _Published 2014-07-09. Have you ever thought to yourself, "Hey! I wish I knew how to catch a wild burmese python." Well, you probably haven't. But regardless, here are the 5 steps you need to know in case you run across one of them_ --- Jul 27, 2023 4:58 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Monty Python Star Diagnosed with Dementia](/video/2cl3NtpN/) ### Monty Python Star Diagnosed with Dementia [The Store Policy You Probably Haven't Heard Of](/video/t5vkknXJ/) ### The Store Policy You Probably Haven't Heard Of [Pythons Devour Florida: Help Wanted](/video/KJSpw4eN/) ### Pythons Devour Florida: Help Wanted --- ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] The Everglades is ground zero for Invasive Species. For 500 exotic plants and animals have made this area their home, making the most impacted region in the world. And of all these species, the Burmese python is a poster child. That's why we went to Homestead, Florida to find out what it takes to catch a giant and unwelcome snake. [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] Step one. Find them. What the hardest part of actually catching a Burmese python is finding it. I mean, they can hide in not very much cover at all. But if you look at how quickly he finds cover in here, even in just a short amount of cover. It's right there. He disappears. By the time you get on to a Tree Island, there are snakes, Burmese pythons there. They're long gone out the other side. And they really even barely ever have to even eat. So they can hide when they when they're being hunted. They don't have to come out for weeks or even months. Though when we find them a lot of times it's just serendipity. It's luck. It's being in exactly the right space, place at exactly the right time. [ MUSIC ] Step Two. Observe their Behavior. [ MUSIC ] When you actually do find a Burmese Python, you wanna actually see what kind of state it's in. Is the snake in its flight mode where it's trying to get away from you? Or, is it in its fight mode where it's being aggressive and trying to strike at you? And you notice he's paying attention to what I'm doing now. Mm- hm. [ MUSIC ] He's he's agitated because I'm a threat. We don't wanna be in the same state of mind as the snake. We don't wanna be in fight or flight mode because then we can't plan. We can't do all those things that make us different from other animals. If the name is in attack mode, you wanna sort of get around it. Cause eventually that snake will begin to try to slid their way towards cover. And that's when it's getting to flight mode and that's when you can move on trying to grab it. [ MUSIC ] Step 3. Tire Them Out. You want to start begin to actually to tire it out, get to the point where it can't really fight back. And the way you do that actually is, it seems counter- intuitive; you try to grab the snake by its tail, by its end. You keep pulling it back, this is the way you pull it back and by doing that; you sort of just get it tired enough to the point; we can then capture it. Now there's a couple of problems with this. One is that when you're actually pulling snakes by the tail, they begin defecating and urinating pretty much constantly. Another problem is, as you pull it away, the snake will eventually want to turn around and try to bite you. And see, he's coming back on himself already and he's gonna try and bite me. You have to do this kind of dance where you pull it, but then get your hands out of the way when that snake actually does turn around and try to stick his fangs into your hand. [ LAUGH ] Hey, let go, let go! And you keep doing that long enough eventually the snake will kind of, almost give up, and that's when you can move on to the next step. [ MUSIC ] Step four. Pin Their Head. But if you get into the flight mode where it is moving away from you, you can walk up behind the animal. And then we normally use a snake hook and we use the rubberized handle of the snake hook to gently pin the snake's head right behind the jaw bone's down. And now he's not paying attention to where I'm going, I'm gonna pin his head. Cuz if he bites that hook, the hook never has to go to the hospital or fill out paperwork explaining why he wasn't using the tools he was given to capture. We don't use a lot of pressure, not enough to harm the snake, but just enough to keep the snake under control. Then you can grab it. You want to grab it right behind the head. The snakes actually kinda backs up into your grip and there's no way it can turn around and bite you if you've grabbed it properly. So I've got the snake and he's doing some of the things that they do, he's rolling his body around, trying to get me to let go. Mm- hm. You notice he's not being aggressive. He's trying to get away. What they might start to do is actually coil around your arm which will feel a bit weird. I feel like having a blood pressure pump sort of pushing around your forearm, but it won't be able to do much more than that. And I like to work with them near the ground that way you run less risk of them coiling around your neck or your chest. And you see this? He's wrapped around me but what is he going to do to my leg? And once you've got that, you have it stabilized and then you can finally move to the final step. [ MUSIC ] Step 5. Bag Them. And once you've gotten that snake stabilized with your hand, go get your bag out. And what you do sort of is put the bag on over the snake almost inside out. You stick one hand down into the bottom of the bag and you've got the snake in one hand. You grab the snake with the other hand and transfer to the hand that's inside the bag, you're holding the snake. And you simply work the bag around the snake. Once you get the bag around the snake, you tighten it up and you can let go of the head and help the snake get into the bag. But once you've done that, once you've gotten the snake into the bag you pull the string tight. 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