Discovery’s ‘Guardians of the Glades’ Shows Viewers the Life of a Paid Python Hunter (VIDEO)
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If you’re not from around the Florida Everglades, chances are you don’t know too much about the Burmese python problem, nor have you heard about Dusty “The Wildman” Crum. Dusty’s made it his life mission — and business — to save the Everglades from Burmese Pythons that have been taking over the state and decimating certain mammals and bird species. He’s the focus of Discovery Channel’s new Guardians of the Glades, which premieres Tuesday, May 28 at 10/9c.
Barefoot (more on that later) and barehanded, Crum leads a team of eclectic fellow snake hunters, experts and survivalists as they trudge through swamps to stop the python takeover and save their beloved home and the diminishing wildlife who inhabit it.
So what’s Crum’s biggest fear in this pulse-pounding career? “Getting drowned in the water by having a snake wrapped around me and I can’t do nothing about it.”
You would think he’d carry a knife or some kind of weapon, right?
“No. I believe that God is not going to put anything in front of me that I can’t handle. The snake doesn’t have knives or weapons either. It’s just one of them things,” Crum says. “I don’t want the snake to suffer pain. It’s not their fault they’re in this situation. They’re just trying to eat, reproduce, and live their life as they’re created in. If you stab a snake with a knife, the snake has a very small kill spot. About a dime-sized kill spot on the top of their skull cap. So if you don’t hit that spot, the snake is going to suffer pain. It’s gonna get away.”
Or it could bite you, then start trying to put their coils around you. “And it’s not like they’re gonna squeeze you and suffocate you,” Crum explains. “They’re gonna squeeze you so hard, with such force, that your blood pressure elevates to the point where your heart just can’t handle it. And your heart will explode.”
Surprisingly, a lot of people still want to hunt pythons.
Crum is one of a select few registered hunters in South Florida who prowl the Glades for pythons. “There were over 1,000 applicants, and they selected less than 1 percent — 25 hunters out of that,” Crum states. “We are the only ones who get paid to do it.”
Registered bounty hunters of the South Florida Water Management District Python Elimination Program receive $50 for the first four feet of snake, and $25 for each foot thereafter — so removing a 10-foot snake from the Everglades is worth $200. Equally important for these hunters is the size of the snake and the amount of eggs that snake could be carrying (female snakes can lay around 100 eggs a year).
“Every snake that we capture we put into a database with a GPS marked location, and record the temperature, the time, the conditions, and everything. That helps us predict a better future of activity for the snakes going forward,” Crum says. “They’ll measure it, weigh it, and then they’ll give the snake back to us.”
Crum has a deep respect for the majestic reptiles he’s caught, and Guardians of the Glades not only follows him through the hunt, but also shows what happens after he validates his bounty, including his tanning techniques. “They are a beautiful creature, and I want to try to utilize every piece that I can,” he says. “To monetize it and to keep our hunts going, but also out of respect for the animal.”
And as to why he does all this without shoes?
“Well, the snake doesn’t have shoes, he doesn’t even have feet or legs,” Crum says. “This is Florida and I’ve grown up this way. It’s kind of a healing experience. I believe the Earth releases energy and I can pick that up through my feet, and also it’s almost a healing experience, I think. It’s therapy. … So when you’re barefoot the Earth kind of massages your feet and it’s more natural to me.”
Check out the video below for an exclusive clip from the first episode.
Guardians of the Glades, Tuesdays at 10/9c, Discovery Channel
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R
its an interesting show, but way over exaggerated. One shotgun buckshot hit to the head, and all that snake wrestling drama is over.
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O
So at what point does the snake meet his demise? They’re dead when he takes them to the bounty station. How are they killed. And who does it?
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G
They are put on ice.
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P
just saw an episode where a giant python he was fighting in the water had overpowered him and wrapped around his neck. He was gasping for the cameraman to help him immediately. The cameraman jumped in and helped otherwise he would 100% be dead. Interesting for him to say something dumb like he won't carry a knife or gun as the snakes don't have weapons. These huge snakes a more than a match for anybody, even those with experience. This man someday will die the exact way he fears. By a snake around his neck in the water
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C
sorry to goofy..they try and make the dude look like the snake guru or so magic guy..it was okay if the next one goes down the same road then it will be a flop...when you try and make the guy...hold up a few fingers to quiet the gang and then he can feel the snakes with his super snake powers it is just to fake...I understand they are a big problem in the glades but do not make this dude seem super natural it just makes it to fake and phony...
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R
i have watched a few episodes, and i know what they are trying to say. the guy is a natural born hunter. I knew a guy like that...he could see things none of the rest of us could...just a slightly different patch of color in the bush...and he saw the deer, when all we saw was the woods.....being in tune with nature that way IS something some people can do
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