Florida scientists are using opossums to secretly track invasive Burmese pythons in the Everglades-and it's working.

Scientists found a shocking way to track Florida’s invasive pythons: let the snakes swallow GPS-collared opossums.

One python hunter, Anthony Flanagan, had a busy March eliminating the invasive snakes. He was rewarded by the South Florida Water Management District.

A Durban fisher made an unexpected slippery catch of the day: a 2.5m-long python. Dwayne Boshoff said shortly after the sail past on the first day of the Durban Ski Boat Club Festival on Friday, he and his dad came across the python floating 2km out at sea.

The naming of snakes is not something random or whimsical that happens spontaneously when they are found in the field. On the contrary, there is a well-defined process through which this naming procedure is done.

"This snake could easily swallow at least a calf, if not an adult cow," an explorer and natural history photographer said of the python Desiree Anello is a Writer/Reporter at PEOPLE. She has been working at PEOPLE since 2025. Her work has previously ...

Florida's opossums could soon become weaponized against prolific and invasive Burmese pythons by tracking them.