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Florida is home to some of the most unique ecosystems in the country and some of its most destructive invasive species.
In this episode of the Ascend Podcast, host Adrienne sits down with conservation professionals Elizabeth Guthrie and Kaylyn Glenn to unpack the growing threat of invasive species in Florida and what it really takes to protect an ecosystem.
From invasive plants and prescribed fire to iguanas, tegus, and the infamous Burmese python, Elizabeth and Kaylyn explain how non-native species can disrupt ecosystems, threaten native wildlife, and change landscapes that have existed for generations.
Kaylyn, a 10th-generation Floridian and professional Burmese python hunter, takes listeners inside the world of python hunting in the Everglades including how hunters find these incredibly well-camouflaged predators, why breeding season is critical, and what happens when you come face-to-face with an 18-foot python sitting on a nest of 80 eggs.
But this conversation goes beyond pythons.
Elizabeth and Kaylyn explain why hunting can be conservation, how prescribed fire helps maintain healthy ecosystems, why there is no single solution to invasive species, and what everyday people can do at home to support native wildlife.
In this episode, you'll learn:
- The difference between native, non-native, and invasive species
- Why Florida is particularly vulnerable to invasive species
- How invasive plants can destroy critical wildlife habitat
- Why prescribed fire is an important part of ecosystem management
- Why Burmese pythons are such a serious threat to Florida's native wildlife
- How professional python hunters find these highly camouflaged snakes
- Why python breeding season is one of the most important times to find them
- What an 18-foot python with approximately 80 eggs tells us about the scale of the problem
- How hunting invasive species can contribute to conservation
- Why healthy markets can encourage better stewardship
- What everyday people can do to support conservation through native landscaping
Follow @duascend or visit Ducks Unlimited Ascend for more stories, outdoor education, and resources for women in the outdoors.
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The Ascend Podcast by Ducks Unlimited is Sponsored by:
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Dry Pocket.
Visit drypocket.com and use promo code "ASCEND" for 25% off.
Bird Dig Whiskey.
Visit birddogwhiskey.com. Enjoy Responsibly!
Creators and Guests
Host
Adrian Jessen
Adrian Jessen is a reviewer, writer, and adult-onset hunter best known as co-founder and on-camera host of the YouTube channel Review This Thing. Since 2020, she and her husband Robbie have published thorough, real‑world reviews and tutorials on optics, firearms, archery, and outdoor gear—built around a promise to be complete, honest, and unbiased. Adrian also contributes to titles such as North American Deer Hunter and Crossbow Magazine. When she isn’t testing new kit, she’s likely chasing spring gobblers or helping new hunters choose reliable gear and build safe, ethical skills.
What is ASCEND by Ducks Unlimited?
Ascend is a multimedia platform that spotlights the millions of outdoorswomen across our country who go hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, biking, running, and perform important conservation work every day.
Our web series and podcast feature guests who share their experiences with a focus on entertainment, education, and authenticity. Our viewers and listeners will get to know them and learn all about their passion for the outdoors. Whether you've been in outdoor communities all your life or are just getting started, Ascend is the place for you to follow your story!
Brought to you by Ducks Unlimited.
And the further that folks realize that we are a part of this ecosystem and we do need to manage it, whether it be for invasives or for just regular wildlife management. Hunting is conservation. I don't think folks recognize that enough. Hunting is driving. I mean, Ducks Unlimited.
Caitlin Glenn:Like, hunting is driving some incredible conservation efforts, and they are some of the biggest advocates and stewards for these natural areas.
Adrian Jessen:Where women could come and just be them. You just have to be fearless. What drew me to hunting was that it made me feel empowered.
VO:Presented by Ducks Unlimited. The women who come on to this podcast share their passion and their knowledge and their stories.
Adrian Jessen:I share that love for wildlife. Clean water is important to them too. They just don't have a voice to tell us.
VO:I wanted to be in the mud, in the dirt. I loved it. This is the ASCEND podcast, connecting women outdoors.
VO:Don't forget to rate and review the ASCEND podcast. It's the best way to grow the podcast and help other women discover the next step on their outdoors journey.
Adrian Jessen:Welcome to the ASCEND podcast by Ducks Unlimited. I'm Adrian, and today we are joined by two ladies who know a thing or a thousand about invasive species. Elizabeth Guthrie, who has served as the manager of conservation programs for Ducks Unlimited since 2023. She has fourteen years of experience working in conservation in Florida, including land management, restoration, land protection, grant funding, and nonprofit leadership. Caitlin Glenn is a tenth generation Floridian who has spent more than a decade working in natural resources, forestry, and also conservation.
Adrian Jessen:Growing up in the wild places of South Florida sparked a lifelong passion for protecting the landscapes that she calls home. Today, she serves as the southeast regional manager for FSCUS and is also a professional Burmese python hunter who spends countless hours in the Everglades helping remove one of Florida's most destructive invasive species. Thank you, ladies, so much for being here today.
Elizabeth Guthrie:Hey. Thanks for having
Caitlin Glenn:us here.
Elizabeth Guthrie:Excited to
Adrian Jessen:be here. It's gonna be fun. This is definitely something that we don't pay enough attention to. But before we dig into it, I wanna give both of you a chance to tell listeners a little bit more about yourself. So, Elizabeth, why don't you go first?
Elizabeth Guthrie:Sure. Well, we are talking about invasive species today. So I thought it would be fitting to talk about the fact that invasive species are actually the reason that I am here in Florida doing conservation work today. So maybe the one good thing to come out of invasives. I myself am not a native Floridian.
Elizabeth Guthrie:I'm a non native species here now.
Caitlin Glenn:But Invasive.
Elizabeth Guthrie:I no.
Caitlin Glenn:We'll get to that. Not invasive. Okay. Okay. Okay.
Elizabeth Guthrie:I moved down to Florida about fourteen years ago to join the Florida Conservation Corps, which is an AmeriCorps program through the Florida Park Service. And I spent the entirety of a year on a team traveling across the whole state tackling the worst of the worst invasive plant infestations in state parks. And so while it was incredibly hard work and it was hard to see the impacts of invasives, it also just opened my eyes to how incredible Florida is. And I just I really had no idea about the the diversity of ecosystems we have here. And since then, I decided to dedicate my career to trying to protect as much as we can.
Elizabeth Guthrie:We're in a race against time and also to restore important places here. But, you know, I also try to enjoy those places and in my free time do what I can to stay outdoors, hiking, biking, fishing, birding, and Florida is a great place to do that.
Adrian Jessen:Awesome. Are you from North Carolina?
Elizabeth Guthrie:I am.
Adrian Jessen:Oh, very nice. Yes. Yes. I am also non native to North Carolina, but that is where I live now. So we have a little bit in common there.
Adrian Jessen:I don't I don't know much about invasive things, but I'm about to learn, so we're good to go. Alright. Caitlin, what about you? Share a little bit about yourself.
Caitlin Glenn:Yeah. Absolutely. It is funny. I Elizabeth and I have crossed paths, and our we both went to University of Florida, but at different times. And I was in North Carolina at one point, but she was in Florida.
Caitlin Glenn:And so it's interesting just, it's always fun to hear how our worlds keep crossing in the best ways. But yeah. So my name is Caitlin. And just for context, so it is summer here in South well, we're in the middle of Florida right now, and that is, like, key thunderstorm season. So I have lightning strikes going on all around me.
Caitlin Glenn:So if you see me jump or you see a big bright light, just know that's what that is. But, yeah, I so I am, born and raised in Florida. I've lived in a lot of different places, but this has always been home. Tenth generation, my family was one of the first, founding pioneer families to come into Florida before it was a state. And so I always grew up being outdoors with my father, but really having this storytelling component.
Caitlin Glenn:And so when we would be out in the woods or in the swamp hunting or fishing, he would always tell the stories of our people. And so for me, land management and my connection to this place as well as the invasives that are now a part of it, has always been like, it's home, and it's it's a part of who we are. And I treat it as such, I take care of it as such, and that's why I have a whole career dedicated to it. But, yeah, so I I grew up in Southwest Florida, in Carr County, Naples, Everglade City. Grew up out in Big Cypress and hunting and fishing out there.
Caitlin Glenn:But, yeah, it's it's an area that unfortunately is also a very great home for invasive species that have been introduced, which we can dive into a little bit longer. And so a lot of our responsibility as residents of this area comes into play when we're trying to remove these species to try to keep the the balance of the ecosystem a little bit more intact. That's for us as this great apex predator, you know, can try to help remove some other apex predators. But, yeah, I mean, I've got a lot of different hats that I wear, but, conservation is where my passion is. Hunting is my passion.
Caitlin Glenn:But about two years ago, maybe three years ago now, I was on the show Swamp People, Serpent Invasion. And so that really has brought a lot of great attention to the issues that we're facing down in South Florida. And it was fun getting a hunt with Troy Landry. Grew up worshiping that man, and he's just as amazing. So, yeah, we'll get into all that.
Caitlin Glenn:But, yeah, that's my claim to fame now.
Adrian Jessen:Very, very good. Let's go ahead. Let's dig in. I'm gonna one of you, Elizabeth, let's let's let you, explain the difference between invasive, nonnative, and native.
Elizabeth Guthrie:Yeah. So we'll start with some definitions, and we'll try to keep these pretty basic. But Please. When we talk about native species, right, we're talking about species, and we'd be talking about plants, animals, insects, pathogens, any species that is naturally occurring in an area. So those are natives.
Elizabeth Guthrie:Right? They are from here. So Calen is a native species to Florida. When we talk about non natives, we're talking about species that are not naturally occurring in an area and have moved from another place. But the important distinction between nonnative and invasive is that invasives are also nonnative, but they are causing damage or harm in some way.
Elizabeth Guthrie:So just because a plant or an animal is nonnative doesn't mean it's invasive, but you have to have those two ingredients for it to be considered an an invasive species. And when I talk about, you know, damage or harm, that could be ecological damage. It could be economic. We could be talking about harming human health or livestock health. You gotta have both of those things.
Elizabeth Guthrie:And here in Florida, we have no shortage of invasive species.
Adrian Jessen:Well, let's let's talk about the plants first. I'm I'm saving the pythons for a making people hang on. So, we'll talk about the plants first. What are what are the well, I guess let's start with what's the most important or the one you're you're most concerned about plant wise?
Elizabeth Guthrie:Oh, it's hard to pick just one. We we have some heavy hitters here in the state of Florida. You know, if we if we're talking about aquatic ecosystems, you know, we would definitely think about things like hydrilla or water hyacinth, terrestrial species, Brazilian pepper, melaleuca, old world climbing fern. I mean, you name it, we've got it here in Florida. And, you know, we're we also continue to add invasive species to the list, right, as more and more things get introduced here.
Elizabeth Guthrie:But, you know, the plants are here for the same reason that a lot of people live here, and that is for the climate. Right? Depending on where these species are coming from, you know, they make when they get to Florida, you know, they usually are lacking their natural predators, so there's nothing really knocking them back in that sense. And then we're here in Florida. We don't have long winters.
Elizabeth Guthrie:We don't have hard freezes. You know, we're not buried in snow in the winter, so we don't have those, you know, natural weather patterns that may also help knock some of those species back. So they just really take root here. No pun intended.
Adrian Jessen:That's right. You know,
Elizabeth Guthrie:they they they love
Adrian Jessen:it here in Florida. So how do plant wise, how do most of them get there?
Elizabeth Guthrie:Any and all means. Right? Air, land, and sea. Some of them were accidentally brought here. Some were intentionally brought here.
Elizabeth Guthrie:I know, you know, Caitlin might talk about the exotic pet trade at some point when we get to the pythons. Right? But there's also an exotic plant trade, or people have just brought their favorite plants with them when they've moved to different parts of the country or the world. Plants move, you know, in the transport of firewood. They're moving at the ballast water of ships.
Elizabeth Guthrie:Maybe they come here through natural means. Storms blow them in. They get stuck to animals that transport them to different places. So pretty much any possible way you could think about something moving about the world is a mechanism that can bring an invasive species.
Adrian Jessen:What would differentiate one of the plants you mentioned as invasive versus one of the nonnatives? Like, the part where it is destructive. What are the what are those destructive things that are happening usually?
Elizabeth Guthrie:Some plants end up in new places and don't cause any issues. Right? But the ones that are causing problems you know, especially here in Florida, we have so many really unique habitats, but those habitats are also supporting a lot of really unique animal species. We have, you know, animals that are found nowhere else in the world here in Florida, and we also have a lot of threatened and endangered species. And those also you know, they often require really specific habitats or ecosystems.
Elizabeth Guthrie:And so once one of these particular plant species comes in and starts to take over, we lose those habitats that those animals need to survive. Right? And so they might have to move to other places or the populations might start to decline, but that's just one example of the impacts that these plants can have.
Adrian Jessen:That makes sense. You know, if we're losing habitat because of other plants kinda taking over, then other plants or wildlife can't really thrive the way they're supposed to. So let's shift gears. So let's talk about if you wanna start with the python, you can, but let's talk about invasive animal species.
Caitlin Glenn:Can I add something to that a little bit? Because Elizabeth brought some big points,
Adrian Jessen:but I
Caitlin Glenn:one thing I yeah. One thing I make a nod towards, so being in forestry, we we're always fighting cogan grass, and it's a pain in the butt. But it's just one example. So cogan. So Florida, similar to North Carolina, we are a disturbance dependent ecosystem and state.
Caitlin Glenn:And so we because there's so many people here now, we're not seeing wildfires and and prescribed fire being on, on the landscape as nearly as much as it should. So we've already disturbed the greater ecosystem of our state, just as being people and living and operating the way that we do. And so when we are not running fire through, fire in some hands or in some instances would be that thing that is knocking back these invasives because we're not running fire through the landscape like it had historically. And coking grass is one that, you know, even fire sometimes won't get rid of it. But just that as an example, it burns so hot, and it's so invasive that it is completely wiping out a lot of our grass cover species that our deer and our turkey rely on.
Caitlin Glenn:When you think about the beautiful longleaf pine stands that you all have in North Carolina too. You know? And so we'll we'll get to it. But that's where us as practitioners, we really do have to take an active management role because we have already skewed the the ecosystem for animals, for plants, and and everything in between. And so I just wanna make a nod towards that because we are such a and we are, I think, still the number one prescribed burning state in The US, but we are not at the levels that we need to be at and to see in order to have truly that balance in our, in our ecosystems.
Adrian Jessen:Is that more of a governmental agency issue, or what's keeping that from happening?
Caitlin Glenn:I'd say it's fragmentation. There's a there's a very lengthy history on, how the culture has shifted with prescribed burning all across The US, but especially in the South. And so we have especially my family, we have been burning for generations. But during the Smokey the Bear movement, there was this, like, push against folks. There's some really interesting history there if you ever wanna crack that, open.
Caitlin Glenn:But, essentially, there was a massive campaign, more so changing the culture around how folks were burning and not burning. And now we have a culture that is, one, disconnected from that practice, uncomfortable, and doesn't understand it. Even to this day, we're constantly doing when we're doing prescribed fires, having to put signage because folks are calling the police station like,
VO:oh my gosh. The lights are on fire. It's like, no. No.
Caitlin Glenn:This is great. This is a good thing. But, really, it's fragmentation. And we have these cities, you know, in these areas that were so rural, and so we can't run fires through without risking car accidents or without risking that, you know, HOA community that it's like,
VO:I don't want this smoke in my backyard.
Caitlin Glenn:So I would say truly it's fragmentation with a little bit of cultural disconnect.
Adrian Jessen:That makes sense. Elizabeth, have you had seen anything else that you think is part of the issue?
Elizabeth Guthrie:I mean, that the the prescribed fire issue is a great one to bring up. And, I mean, we could go down a whole rabbit hole about how a lot of these invasive species can actually make fires worse and burn hotter and create even bigger issues. I mean, both, you know, Caitlin and I both connecting our forestry backgrounds here. I will say, though, ten years ago, I probably would have said, you know, education was also a big part of this, and it still is. But I I feel like there has been positive movement towards more awareness of invasive species and more industry involvement with, you know, landscaping and home improvement centers and nurseries just recognizing, you know, native plant branding is beneficial, and and people are really understanding what the impacts of these species are.
Adrian Jessen:That makes sense. Alright, Caitlin. Now you can talk about animals.
Caitlin Glenn:It's go time.
Adrian Jessen:That's right.
Caitlin Glenn:Well, you kick it off. Where where do you wanna start?
Adrian Jessen:So okay. I've definitely seen a lot of, like, iguana hunting and python hunting. So what what are your what are the top three invasive species animal wise that, like, you're working really hard to try to minimize?
Caitlin Glenn:Yeah. So for us, it really is that I mean, similar to what Elizabeth mentioned, you can have nonnative, and you can have invasive. And so just to offer an example, one of our favorite pastimes that my son and I love to do is to go, iguana hunting. And in most cases, we're not killing them. We're just going to play with them.
Caitlin Glenn:And they are, you know, borderline, somewhat invasive, but they're really more non native because they're not impacting the ecosystem, and they're not, you know, these big predators, or they don't usually spread too far within the areas that I've seen these little colonies where the python, the Burmese python, is such a top tier predator. We have a lot of small vulnerable mammals in the Greater Everglades ecosystem, and, really, they are next to the panther and the bears, one of the top predators, and they are just so adapted in this environment because they're not from here. There's nothing really to combat them. We've seen a couple, native species push back. Like, there's some videos, some game camps have caught where there's been bobcats eating some of the python eggs.
Caitlin Glenn:You'll sometimes very rarely see an alligator go after a python that's in the water. Typically, they just go after one that was dead anyways. So truly, it's on us as people to try to give some pressure back to this predator. But we have seen, I think it's like 99 or 90%, loss in our small mammal species in the Everglades will find deer in their stomach. I mean, they are eating anything and everything, to an ecosystem that has already gone through so much and has you know, there's a lot of water management history that's happened as well as some other uses.
Caitlin Glenn:And so our native wildlife are so vulnerable down there, and you just have this massive predator coming through and just causing so much damage. I mean, even in my lifetime, we had we have a camp right in the middle of Big Cypress that we're out almost every weekend. And I remember seeing, you know, bunnies out there on my drive from Naples out to Ochoppy, and I remember seeing our deer that would come up. We have not seen I think I've seen maybe two deer over the past five years, and we're big hunters, and so we're looking for them on purpose. But they have just, yeah, we have lost almost most of our species out there.
Caitlin Glenn:Even some birds too. They're going after everything. So truly, it's the python that we're hunting the most. There are some other species of invasive snakes that are starting to come in, but not quite as prolific. You see them more on East Coast.
Caitlin Glenn:There's tegus, which are pretty rough. The iguanas, they have taken over a lot of residential areas, and so that's a really fun one to hunt. There's oh my gosh. There's so many things. But, really, we're looking for those predators that are knocking out our our smaller mammals that are already struggling or if not gone already.
Adrian Jessen:Do you have any idea how much food eat like, one python will eat?
Caitlin Glenn:Yes. It's I can give y'all some charts. But, essentially Mhmm. Yeah. A python so the largest I've caught was just shy of 18 foot, and she was on about And 80 for her to get that size, like, I mean, you're talking hundreds, hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of small mammals, and they are just absolute incredible predators.
Caitlin Glenn:And even I, when I've been hunting them, we have these ferns down here in South Florida. I've stood over a python just underneath a fern, and they blend in so well. They can go on water during the wintertime. Well, you know, not that it gets really cold down here, but they'll just bury themselves and not move or hunt until the temperatures warm back up again. Hurricanes haven't taken them out.
Caitlin Glenn:You know? Like, it's nothing. They just keep on thriving. But, yeah, I mean, number wise, it would just depend on the age and the size of the snake. But, essentially, for a snake to be that big, I can send y'all some charts to just show how many it would accumulate, but it's really sad.
Adrian Jessen:You said she had 80 eggs?
Caitlin Glenn:She was. Oh, she was on 80 eggs. She was one of so she was they call it an active nest because she was still on her eggs when we found her. And so she it was one of the largest snakes and largest nests, that were active that have been found in the state. I think it was, like, top four or five.
Caitlin Glenn:But, yeah, there's we're all looking for that 20 footer. I think the state record right now is, like, 19 and some change. Each year, we keep finding more and more, large ones, but there's a lot of folks who are trying to find a 20 footer.
Adrian Jessen:Okay. I wanna talk more about conservation efforts, and I wanna talk more about what hunting pythons looks like. But before we do that, let's take just a quick break for a word from our sponsors. Welcome back, everybody. We are ready to talk about what hunting pythons looks like.
Adrian Jessen:So there's this 18 foot monster. How do you find them? How do you hunt them? How do you not get eaten? Tell us all all the things.
Caitlin Glenn:Well, as of yet, there have been no recorded deaths from pythons in Florida, and I doubt that would be a probable thing. But it's fun to lean into the animation around it. But, really, they're beautiful animals. And I equate it to similar other to other styles of hunting. I mean, you understand the animal and how it moves, how it eats, how it breeds.
Caitlin Glenn:Reptiles in particular, you know, they're looking for warmth. They're cold blooded, so it's a little bit different than our warm blooded friends. But, really, we follow that. So our strategy is trying to get as many pythons out as we can and trying to find them at these really critical times. So I mentioned earlier that the largest I had found, she was on about 80 eggs.
Caitlin Glenn:And so if we don't find them right before those eggs hatch, that is 80 more pythons entering our ecosystem and 80 more little hungry bellies trying to eat all of our small mammals. So, really, my biggest strategy is trying to find them around when they're breeding. And so the males will cluster around a female in numbers of, you know, sometimes 10 to 15. And so that's a really great time to find the female, to find the males. And so FWC as well as some other partners will tag the males and release them back into the Everglades because then on breeding season, they can then lead them to those big females which we wanna find.
Caitlin Glenn:Because if the males can't find a female, it's just that one male. But if that male finds a female, it could be up to 80 and a 100 more pythons that come into the ecosystem. So, really, that's the strategy. We wanna try to find them while they're breeding, before they breed. But if for some reason we don't find them, we wanna now find those active nests and try to get that before they hatch.
Caitlin Glenn:And but then if that still doesn't you know, I mean, it's a constant process. But then right now, we're right at the cusp of hatching season. So the python challenge just started last week. And so we're a little bit early, but this is around the time of year that we start finding those hatch lings that are hatching. We're still trying to find those eggs, hopefully, that haven't hatched, but we wanna start finding those little guys to try to remove them as much as we can.
Caitlin Glenn:And so, really, yeah, it's breeding and it's eating. It's knowing what they consume. So right now, we've seen, ironically, a big uptick in our small rats that we have in Big Cypress. I was just out hunting last week, and they were everywhere. And then I have not seen them a numb the numbers that they have, and that we probably saw, I think, eight or 10 owls that night.
Caitlin Glenn:So the owls were out hunting. And so you can tell. You're like, okay. This is gonna be a hot spot for our pythons because that is their food source too. So we're ride riding up and down a lot of these dirt roads trying to find them.
Caitlin Glenn:And so that typically is how most folks hunt just because it's all a really a statistics game. If you're able to be in a vehicle, you're running up and down these roads that are slicing through the Everglades, and you're able to see when that snake crosses that path. Versus on foot, you could, like I said earlier, you could be standing right over one and not see it. So there's a lot of folks that also hunt with dogs where they've, you know, trained them to sniff them out, which helps for our human eyes not being able to spot them. So that's a big strategy.
Caitlin Glenn:We've used some dogs, but for the most part, we're out there road hunting, I go into the backcountry fairly often. So we're looking for where they bed down. We're looking for those loose limestone areas or under these big ferns that they'll lay their eggs. You're looking for these big tunnels that you'll see through our grass where you can see it's almost like the highway that the snakes are moving because right now, we don't have really any small mammals. So that's who's moving out there, making those tunnels.
Caitlin Glenn:And so I'll follow those, trying to see if there's a snake at the end
Elizabeth Guthrie:of it. Let's see if
Caitlin Glenn:I'm missing anything else. Yeah. I mean, that's really the the gist of it. There's a lot of folks on airboats now that will it's really fun. It's I haven't done it yet, but they will ride around and flatten the sawgrass out mostly on the East Coast.
Caitlin Glenn:Well, the snakes will then go up and bask in the sun on these areas during the day. And then these folks on airboats are jumping off airboats onto these massive snakes basking, and it is the coolest thing ever. Like, that is top tier Florida man, Florida woman experience. So that's a strategy.
Adrian Jessen:Is is that how you like, do you do you shoot them? Do you like, how do you how do you hunt them?
Caitlin Glenn:You're hand grabbing. We're grabbing them with our hands. So you wanna reach right behind their head. And, hopefully, you don't reach too far behind because the snake will turn around and bite you. But, really, you're trying to get control over this massive predator because the second you lay hands on it, it's gonna start wrapping you.
Caitlin Glenn:So, typically, I will hunt sometimes by myself, but in most instances, I try to have someone else in case I get lucky and find a big one because that's really the concern. I don't think it would kill us, but if you were alone deep in the backcountry and it starts wrapping you, I mean, it might. They're pretty strong.
Adrian Jessen:So what happens once you get it? Like, what do you how does this end? This is what I'm trying to figure out.
Caitlin Glenn:Yes. Yes. So in a lot of areas, we are not allowed to have firearms, so we'll dispatch them with either, like, a a knife. I use a knife in most cases. There's some specific tools that other folks like a captive bolt gun in our water management areas where you can't have firearms.
Caitlin Glenn:But in most cases, we'll just dispatch this python. You wanna shoot, you know, as close as you can to the brain and try to make it as harmless as possible because they are beautiful creatures. And me personally, you know, you're not able to move a snake once you find one. You have to kill it on-site. But I do really enjoy them.
Caitlin Glenn:They are absolutely gorgeous, and they're so powerful and so wonderful. They're just not meant to be in our ecosystem, and so it's part of our responsibility as conservationists to try to balance things out. But, yes, we'll dispatch them, and, there is a, funding mechanism for state contractors. So whether it's through SwiftMUD or which is our water management district or FWC has a program where they'll pay per foot for folks to go out and hunt these pythons. But in most instances, for us, we make leather products out of them.
Caitlin Glenn:And so that offers it kinda provides a healthy market to encourage more folks to go out and hunt these invasives versus folks I mean, there are people that do it for fun, but I see it in forestry and other sectors. Healthy markets drive good stewardship. And so we have tried to open up a market for that.
Adrian Jessen:Is there much pushback in Florida, or do most people kinda get it that these are not not good to have around?
Caitlin Glenn:I think most people get it, but I'm also biased because I think I'm, you know, surrounded by those people.
Adrian Jessen:So on the conservation front, so I I think both of you combined, like, talk a little bit about how the plants and the animals and and all of that, even the waterways work together to improve habitat in general or the longevity of the wildlife of the or the life of the wildlife you want. How do you manage that in terms of controlling the species, making the helping the native ones thrive in in animals and plants?
Elizabeth Guthrie:It's all part of kind of a comprehensive management strategy or a holistic strategy for ecosystem management. And the the thing we don't want to do or we try to avoid is focusing just on one species. Right? We it's really important as conservationists or biologists, ecologists that we're looking at the big picture and managing for the ecosystem health. Because if you're if you're starting big, you know, the positive impacts you're gonna have are gonna trickle down to those species that you really want you want to target.
Elizabeth Guthrie:For a lot of things as well, it takes a lot of different techniques too. We've talked about prescribed fire, but there are also mechanical and chemical and sometimes biological mechanisms that we can use to manage both the species we want as well as the species that we don't want. But it's a combination of all of those things, and there's really no silver bullet when it comes to ecosystem management.
Caitlin Glenn:Yeah. I mean, agreed. I think she covered it. Nothing really I can add unless you wanna dive into any of those topics more. I mean, truly, it is.
Caitlin Glenn:It's seen the the big picture. I I always refer back to it. So I in early undergrad, I became permaculture certified, and we had taken this limestone parking lot at my undergrad and convert converted it to this thriving food forest. And so I learned a lot about the permaculture principles, and it's something I still carry in my work now where there's a lot of, instances where you see a problem and you quickly wanna it. Right?
Caitlin Glenn:And you're like, okay. Here's one or two, three solutions. And I typically, in my work, try to step back and really observe and see. Because a lot of times, you will see nature and the greater ecosystem start to try to balance things on its own, and then we can assist it along the way. Sometimes it does require a more heavy hand, but really making sure you see that full picture.
Caitlin Glenn:You're observing. You're seeing all the nuances that are existing and what the impacts could be, both good and bad.
Adrian Jessen:What can just the regular, you know, regular Joe, regular Jane we'll talk about Florida first, but what can they do at their home to help in this conservation effort?
Elizabeth Guthrie:A great way to start is with native landscaping. I kinda talked about it a little bit earlier. Just being informed or finding resources in your area. Here in Florida, we have so many great resources with the University of Florida and our IFAS extension agents and tremendous amounts of educational material available to people to help them make decisions about the plants they're putting in their yard or using for landscaping. So that's one way.
Elizabeth Guthrie:People who are if you're out recreating and, you know, if you're on a boat and you're in one of these areas where there's, you know, a heavy infestation of a particular species, just being really conscious about cleaning your equipment, your motor, making sure you're not transporting those species to other places. And I would say for anybody who's, like, really, really passionate about this and wants to get involved, I continue to see more and more opportunities, volunteer events, getting out to your local parks and preserves, and helping tackle some of these plant species in particular going out and, you know, pulling the species out of the ground or, you know, using hand tools. But there are a lot of, you know, little ways that people can get involved and and benefit.
Caitlin Glenn:Yeah. And I would just add, we've been talking about it, but we're a part of this ecosystem, and we're entirely reliant upon all of its natural resources. And so I think that's the starting point is when we see ourselves in it, we behave differently. We are trying to be more cognizant about, you know, if you decide to go get a turtle from the pet shop, maybe if you decide that it wasn't a good fit fit for you, don't just put it in your pond, you know, because that's something that I had seen happen. You know?
Caitlin Glenn:And that's really how our python problems start in a lot of our invasives. If folks are just releasing these pets and
VO:they're like, okay. Not my problem anymore.
Caitlin Glenn:But when you see yourself as part of that lake or that woods that's behind you and you understand that impact, you just behave differently. And so I think that really is the start as well as, yeah, we need these landscapes, and we won't have food. We won't have clean water. We won't have fresh air, and so we have to take care of it accordingly, which, like Elizabeth said earlier, education has been really instrumental. And I think it's come a long way even in the past twenty, thirty years.
Caitlin Glenn:Folks are starting to get it a lot more, but we still have a lot of room to grow, especially Florida. We're getting I don't even know the number of how many folks move here every single day, and they don't understand our ecosystems. And so that's part of our responsibility as well is making sure that we, you know, share that with them and share why we love it, but how they can behave responsibly too.
Elizabeth Guthrie:Yeah. I think the number is 1,100 people a day moving to Florida. It used to be a thousand. I've I've heard that it's it's increased a little bit, so we're kind of adjusting that number. But just to put it in perspective, you know, for those who aren't in Florida and not not from Florida, we are facing a tremendous amount of population growth and pressure, and it's squeezing our ecosystems.
Elizabeth Guthrie:So lots of fun challenges here as as conservationists.
Adrian Jessen:And where do you feel like your biggest success has been?
Elizabeth Guthrie:Maybe kind of broadly just the fact that we're still doing this work and that there are so many people doing this work and continuing to, you know, want to be in these fields and want to make a difference. And, you know, we're still funding these really important efforts, and people are so passionate and advocating and lobbying for this work. And we see that a lot here in in Florida, just really broad support for the protection of our natural areas, and that's, you know, both protecting them in the first place, but then also taking good care of them. Mhmm. And I think, you know, one of Florida's success stories is that we have that culture of conservation here, which is not the case everywhere you go.
Elizabeth Guthrie:So we are we are really lucky. On one hand, we're facing tremendous challenges, and we're racing against the clock. And on the other hand, we've just really fostered this culture of support to protect those species.
Caitlin Glenn:Yeah. Agreed. Agreed. I was gonna say our culture of conservation and, really, it goes back to our working lands. And, you know, a lot of the folks who have been here, me very biasedly with my family in the way that we we lived and worked with this landscape.
Caitlin Glenn:And I say, I'm like, I bled on this land. You know, there's a lot of stories and a lot of heartache and loss that has happened in order for us to stay here for 10 generations. And we have such a beautiful rich history and the native history intertwined with this landscape. And it's still there even though we are seeing mass 1,100 folks moving here every every day, but that culture is still there. And we've got a lot of success stories.
Caitlin Glenn:I said earlier, we're the number one prescribed buyer state. So despite so much growth and fragmentation, we are still running fire, through our our state at a very rapid rate. And the University of Florida, shout out, is one of the best schools for that. And, also, I think we are, leading in the conservation game as well. We have the wildlife corridor that has been still a long way to go, but it has proven to be immensely successful from spreading awareness to really pushing this larger campaign and this idea of conservation in these really critical, highly biodiverse areas.
Caitlin Glenn:A majority of those are working lands. It's our cattlemen's. It's our forests. It's our, you know, agricultural producers. I mean, it is a little bit of everything, and it's private landowners similar in North Carolina.
Caitlin Glenn:We are mostly owned by small private landowners. And so it's their engagement and their success make sure that we're doing this well. And they're and us, you know, every so often putting pressure on making sure that they're operating sustainably as we get new information and new science that comes about. So, really, it is a collaborative effort, and I've seen some incredible successes from private to state, federal, as well as just the public support for this work. It's been beautiful to see, but we still have a lot of challenges and room to grow.
Adrian Jessen:And I assume there are in each state and federally, there are organizations that somebody could contact if they wanted to be more involved or or learn more. Is that an accurate assessment?
Elizabeth Guthrie:Absolutely. Absolutely. And, you know, what I like to tell people too is even if, you know, I gotta plug Ducks Unlimited. Hello. We're we're here.
Elizabeth Guthrie:But even if we're not the right organization for that particular issue, right, so many of that we all work collaboratively in the conservation space. If it's, you know, not something I can help you with, I will find the person that can help you. And I think, you know, a lot of our conservation colleagues would say the same thing, but we do benefit from having really great resources. And we've mentioned the University of Florida, of course. We have our Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which is another great source of information.
Elizabeth Guthrie:You know, all all kinds of university affiliated or state agency, federal agency folks who are all here to help. Right? Because we're all super passionate about this, and, you know, anyone who shows an interest about it, we wanna help foster.
Adrian Jessen:If you would like to do something, there's someone who can help you be involved.
Elizabeth Guthrie:Yep. We will find them. Now now what about
Adrian Jessen:if somebody watches this and they think, you know, I sure would like to wrangle a python. How could somebody go about doing that?
Caitlin Glenn:Come on down. I could would I can happily take folks out. I've done it. I don't usually charge. I do it for nonprofits and just for fun and taking youth out.
Caitlin Glenn:Though my son has teed up offering a business idea. Python Hunts for Kids, by Kids. So maybe he'll he'll charge.
Adrian Jessen:He's a
Caitlin Glenn:very, savvy businessman. But, yeah, I mean, come on down. There are so many folks that are within this industry and in the sector. I mean, East Coast, West Coast. I mean, if you if you want to find a hunter, reach out.
Caitlin Glenn:I'd be happy to support. It's a really small community, but they're incredible people doing incredible work, and they love it. And this is their livelihood, and it's our livelihood. So, yeah, I mean, come on down. We need all the awareness and all the extra hands because you gotta grab them with your hands that we can get, so come on down.
Adrian Jessen:As we finish up, are there any last thoughts or suggestions that you would give people to be more conservation minded even in their their own state where they live?
Elizabeth Guthrie:Yeah. Well, I'll have to kinda go back to something that Caitlin talked about earlier, which is, you know, this concept that protecting nature is really about protecting humanity. Right? At the end of the day, it's it's it's about people, and it's about, you know, protecting our drinking water and our food and our medicine and, you know, our physical health, our mental health, right, in places where we're creating memories with our friends and family and the list of benefits goes on and on and on and on and on. We really all have a stake in this no matter, you know, where you're coming from or if you even care about science or not.
Elizabeth Guthrie:Always remember that we're we're part of the system too. We're not separate from it.
Caitlin Glenn:And the further that folks realize that we are a part of this ecosystem and we do need to manage it, whether it be for invasives or for just regular wildlife management. Hunting is conservation. I don't think folks recognize that enough, especially as a regular hunter, but also as a python hunter. I mean, they this ecosystem needs us to be engaged and partake in it and harvest from it and support that. I mean, hunting is driving.
Caitlin Glenn:I mean, Ducks Unlimited. Like, hunting is driving some incredible conservation efforts, and they are some of the biggest advocates and stewards for these natural areas. And I don't think it gets talked about enough in the greater sphere. And so I think that's the message I wanna drive home, especially as a python hunter.
Adrian Jessen:Well, good deal. That's great. You guys, thanks so much for being here. I really appreciate this chat. You guys watching, if you will comment below if you have any other questions that we missed, we can always try to get those answered for you.
Adrian Jessen:Make sure that you like this video and share it with all of your friends. Before we head out, Caitlin and Elizabeth, tell everybody where they can find you and follow along.
Elizabeth Guthrie:Oh, well, I'm just a normal person. So you can find me on the Ducks Unlimited website. Feel free to reach out. You can contact me by email or phone if you search Ducks Unlimited Florida. My information is there, and I would love for people to reach out.
Elizabeth Guthrie:Let me know if you have questions or wanna connect.
Adrian Jessen:Okay. Caitlin, where can everybody find you and follow you?
Caitlin Glenn:Yes. So I'm on Instagram. My name, Caitlin Glenn. I'm on LinkedIn. I'm on Facebook.
Caitlin Glenn:I'm known as the Gladeswoman on Swamp People. You can find me there. I think we're on Disney plus and Hulu. You can watch our past episodes and see me catch that big snake on all those eggs. I think it's season five or no.
Caitlin Glenn:Season four episode one. But, yeah, also, you can find me in Everglades City. Come on down. We've got a pizza, pasta, and python shop where we sell our leather products as well as pizza, sometimes with python on it and other invasives. So if you wanna come down and experience the Everglades way of life, we would love to have you.
Caitlin Glenn:And we do buggy tours, and so, yeah, it'd be great to meet y'all. And if you're interested in learning more, please reach out. We'd love to be a great resource.
Adrian Jessen:Well, again, thank you guys for being here. We really appreciate it.
Caitlin Glenn:Thank you for having me, and great to meet you.
Adrian Jessen:We really appreciate you guys watching and listening. Make sure you like this episode. Comment if you have any questions. Head over to Instagram and follow us at D U ASCEND. Be part of our community.
Adrian Jessen:We want it to grow so women everywhere can be supported by women to do the stuff we wanna do outside. On that note, as always, I'm Adrian, encouraging you to follow your story wherever it takes.
VO:Thank you for listening to the ASCEND podcast. New every week, the conservation driven podcast one week, and our adventure video series the next. Watch the ASCEND adventure episodes on the Ducks Unlimited YouTube channel, and be sure to like, share, and subscribe. Opinions expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect those of Ducks Unlimited. Until next time, follow your outdoor story wherever it leads you.
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