Florida pizzeria owner trades pizza for invasive Burmese pythons

Dustin Crum, the owner of Wildman’s Pizza, Pasta and Python in Everglades City, Florida, has introduced a program offering free large pizzas in exchange for captured invasive Burmese pythons. This initiative coincides with the ongoing Florida Python Challenge, a competition where hunters compete for a $10,000 prize to remove pythons from the Everglades. Crum, who is also a python hunter, accepts recently killed snakes as currency to assist in controlling the invasive population. The owner utilizes the snake fat and hides to create various products, characterizing the practice as a mutually beneficial arrangement for both the business and local hunters. The restaurant has reported that the trade has become popular among local youth who capture the snakes. Authorities recognize the Burmese python as a major environmental threat to the Everglades ecosystem, and this private initiative serves as an additional incentive for their removal. The practice is unique to this establishment, which promotes itself as the only place in the world where snakes serve as a form of payment.