Python Hunters - Episode Guide

The Python Hunters tackle the debate over how the Burmese pythons came to be established in the Everglades. National Geographic rides along with these expert hunters as they uncover the mystery behind how these creatures came to roam the land.

As a cold front hits the state of Florida, the frigid temperatures kill thousands of animals of all species. The Python Hunters head out braving alligators, venomous snakes and the relentless cold to determine how the weather has affected the population of Burmese pythons.

The Python Hunters perform a necropsy on a Burmese python killed by cold weather to see whether or not it was a healthy predator. Then, the hunters head to the edge of a sawgrass marsh to explore through knee-deep waters in search of pythons. National Geographic joins the team as they trek through mud and water hoping to find this magnificent snake.

It's a new season of hunting, and the guys are back in the Everglades to see if a bitter winter has put a dent in the Burmese python population. From Green iguanas and Nile monitors, to rock pythons and the biggest nasty of them all - the 12-foot Burmese python - alien invaders have infested the Florida Everglades. And now an elite squad of hunters is fighting back. Patrolling one of the most beautiful and delicate environments on the planet, the Python Hunters are determined to get these invasive species under control. It's a high-stakes, adrenaline pumping conservation mission, and if they fail, one of the most important eco-systems in America may never recover.

The team is branching out, and starts hunting the elusive Nile monitor lizard. Their first stop is an infested Cape Coral canal. It's a high-stakes, adrenaline pumping conservation mission, and if they fail, one of the most important eco-systems in America may never recover.

The guys head to Louisiana to conduct some research on invasive reptile species, many of which escaped there in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. From Green iguanas and Nile monitors, to rock pythons and the biggest nasty of them all - the 12-foot Burmese python - alien invaders have infested the Florida Everglades. And now an elite squad of hunters is fighting back.

From Green iguanas and Nile monitors, to rock pythons and the biggest nasty of them all - the 12-foot Burmese python - alien invaders have infested the Florida Everglades. And now an elite squad of hunters is fighting back. The guys are determined to track down a huge, fast-breeding snake they call the Mother Burm, who lurks in a derelict aquaculture facility.

With a storm delaying their plans at home the hunters head to Puerto Rico, where endangered boas hang from vines, preying on bats as they fly by.

With Florida still in deep freeze, the team combs a Puerto Rican swamp for spectacled caimans, the island's largest invasive species.

Michael wants to handle a perentie monitor-Australia's largest lizard-while Greg wants to get his hands on some of the biggest crocs on earth. Once on the road, they attempt to catch a speedy Australian sand monitor before cornering a couple of black-headed monitors in Palm Valley. They also help capture a dangerous king brown snake.

At the northern tip of the country, Greg, Michael and Shawn join biologist Jamie Seymour with his venom research. On a very successful night hunt, they manage to haul in a large number of sea snakes, including one particularly unusual specimen. The next morning is spent identifying, measuring, milking and tagging the snakes.

Along with snake catcher David Flack, they search for one of the only indigenous snakes that can eat the invasive and poisonous cane toad-the famed keelback snake. Back in Cairns, they tend to some injured pythons. They get to release two recovered sea turtles back into the wild-an event that everyone agrees was a highlight of the trip.

Greg and Michael meet up with Shawn at the remote hideaway that he built in the past decade while exploring the region. They spend the night in an open-air bungalow not far from where they came across an enormous bushmaster viper, and in the morning the team visits a street market and gets to see firsthand why Peru's endangered animals are disappearing.

With the riverboat leaving in the morning, the hunters make the most of their last night in Peru, searching for elusive black caiman, some of which can grow to more than 18 feet. When they return home to Florida, Shawn celebrates the arrival of another record-breaking brood of albino gator hatchlings. The team then heads out into the Everglades to see if the invasive pythons are making a comeback. Luckily, they don't find any, but Shawn still decides to install some new infrared cameras.

Greg, Michael and Shawn are in Guam, where a number of invasive reptiles are devastating the native creatures. Along with biologist James Stanford, the hunters go after brown tree snakes, which have already wiped out nearly a dozen species of birds, including the Guam rail. They then visit a sanctuary dedicated to preventing the extinction of the emblematic birds. The Python Hunters then become beetle hunters as they help control the island's coconut rhinoceros beetle population.

Dusky pygmy rattlesnakes average only about 18 inches and have a rattle so small it's difficult for humans to hear-but the team still manages to fill a bucket with them, proving the population is not under threat. They then tour a medical toxin lab that contains more than 900 venomous snakes, and expert Carl Barden introduces them to two cobra species.

Fortunately, back-to-back cold winters have kept Florida's non-native Burmese python population in check, so the hunters are able to head out to tropical Costa Rica for other work. They join forces with a local conservationist and help him capture and relocate an American crocodile that's been invading some fish farms. They then head into the rain forest and track down three of the region's most venomous snakes - the Costa Rican eyelash viper, the bushmaster and the legendary fer-de-lance.

The hunters are in Bangkok, Thailand, where a heavy monsoon season is resulting in an epic flood that's causing the flood barriers to fail for the first time in decades. They join forces with the snake rescue hotline, and they immediately get to work catching a green tree pit viper. At a local park that's been overrun by giant monitor lizards, Greg, Michael and Shawn get a little competitive with the local rangers to see who can snag the largest one.

Exploring the rice paddies of central Thailand, the guys enlist the help of local farmers to see if the monocled cobra, one of the country's deadliest snakes, has survived the deluge. Back in Bangkok, an emergency hotline notifies the team about a giant crocodile on the loose, but after battling hours of gridlock to get there, the guys cruise a flooded neighbourhood in the dark. At the world's biggest croc farm, the guys are thrilled to help capture and measure the biggest of 40,000 beasts, and it's a tug of war between ten men and a 1,500-pound goliath. In the mountainous Khao Yai Park in north central Thailand, the guys are determined to end their three-week Thai adventure with a giant Burmese python.