Florida man wins $10k state contest to remove invasive pythons from state, captures 28 snakes

A Florida man this week received a whopping $10,000 prize for winning a state-sponsored competition to remove invasive snake species from the Everglades.

Matthew Concepcion "removed 28 Burmese pythons, winning the $10,000 Ultimate Grand Prize" offered by the Bergeron Everglades Foundation, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said in a press release.

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis praised the results in the release, stating that the contest yielded "impressive results with hundreds of invasive pythons being removed from the wild."

"Removing these snakes is one of the many efforts we are employing to restore and maintain the Everglades ecosystem," the governor added. 

Among the other prizes awarded were the "longest python" award at $1,500, as well as a $2,000 award for the most snakes captured by a U.S. veteran.