Father-Son Realtors Go Python Hunting

With their decades of real estate experience, Marv and Scott Needles must have lots of experience spotting a snake in the grass. Their recent trip into the Big Cypress National Preserve introduced the father-son team to a different kind of snake - South Florida’s most notorious invasive species, the Burmese Python.

"We went with Amy Siewe,” said Scott Needles, a Marco Island native. "She had donated an expedition through Rookery Bay Charities. I bid on an auction. It came with a python purse. My wife got that. The proceeds went to Rookery Bay. So that’s how the whole thing started. It was for three people, so I took one of my friends and my dad.”

So, what was it like for two of Marco Island’s top real estate agents to grab a python?

"We didn’t grab it,” Needles laughed. "She’s the one that went in there and grabbed it. She gets paid by the foot. She didn’t really want us rookies jumping in there and losing the snake for her!”

 "I caught it,” Amy Siewe laughed, “because everybody wants to catch a python. But it’s a little nerve wracking when you get down to it. So, I caught it. Everybody got to take pictures with it. We bagged it up, put it in the truck, and kept on hunting. That’s basically the gist of it.”

Siewe works for the South Florida Water Management District. She’s one of 100 licensed python hunters. You might picture Siewe as a rugged, amazon type.

“No,” Needles said quickly. “She looks more like a model. Oh, gosh, yes. She’s blonde, maybe like five feet two, five feet three, about 100 pounds, 120 pounds. My dad was enjoying sitting in the front seat with her.”

Marv Needles, a venerable Marco real estate agent, just celebrated his 79th birthday. He was accorded the honor of riding shotgun next to Siewe while son Scott and his friend bumped along the gravel road of the levee in the bed of the truck.

'We rode in her truck 16 miles - in the back of her truck,’ Needles said. "My dad rode up front - he was the smart one. We got there right before dark. There’s the road, there’s water on both sides and there’s mangroves. It goes down about 10-feet. It took like three hours. We shined lights in the mangroves, on the water, and looked for snakes."

Since pythons are nocturnal, the hunts are conducted at night. Needles admits to being a little scared.

“Oh, yeah,” Needles said. "If you got out and had to go to the bathroom. We saw gators. I was a little concerned.”

“It’s kind of a privilege to be able to go back there,” Siewe said of the levee. "We’ll basically hunt the whole way up. The snakes are usually either on the side of the levee or crossing it. We just look for the snakes. The first one we caught with Scott, I didn’t even think it was a snake. We had to back up. I tell them that we’re looking for something that’s shiny, because their skin has this sheen to it. When the lights bounces off it, the snake’s skin shines. Because their eyes don’t shine like a gator’s. Which is unfortunate. The only problem is, when they’re getting ready to shed, they’re very dull. I thought, wait a minute. I’m not sure what that was. I didn’t think it was a python. But sure enough, it was. So, we parked, got out, and caught a seven-to-eight-foot python.”

Siewe warned the men that there was a chance they would encounter one of the legendary big pythons that are found at the levee.

"I always prepare the people I take out there for that,” Siewe said. "Because it can be pretty intimidating when you see a snake that big. Especially if you’re not used to seeing pythons at all. We always have a game plan. The plan is for me to jump on it and get it behind the head. Then one of the guys is going to basically keep it from wrapping around me, if possible. The other guy is going to wrap the electrical tape around its mouth. Because snakes that big are so strong. If you can take the bite factor out, it’s much easier to get them out of the levee, into a bag, and into the back of the truck. When there’s amateurs, and they really don’t know how to catch a python, safety is the most important thing. We had a game plan. We were ready just in case. Because you just never know. Because the record was caught on that levee – 18 feet, nine-inches is the record. A friend of mine caught a 16-footer out there a week ago. You never know what you’re going to see."

 "She said, ‘If we get a big one, you guys are going to have to jump on its back and grab it,” Needles said. "I guess, fortunately, we didn’t get a real big one.”

Siewe said there is controversy surrounding the python hunting program. She’s removed 267 pythons since she started hunting full-time in July 2019.

“It’s kind of a controversy right now, whether we’re really making a difference,” she said. "And we are getting rid of a lot of them. But there’s just so many of them out there. They estimate there are between 100,000-300,000 out there. The way I look at it is, it takes a python three years to get 10 feet long. And it takes 200 mammals and birds to get it there. And these things live for 25 years. So, each python that we’re taking out of the swamp is literally saving the lives of hundreds of our native mammals and birds. When you look at it that way, it’s a little easier to swallow. Because there’s just so many of them out there. We’re never going to eradicate - ever. We may not even be able to control it. But if we can get the numbers down a little bit and get the mammal numbers up and the bird numbers up a little bit, that would be great.”

As far as Needles’ future with python hunting, it looks like it might be a case of one and done.

“I don’t know,” he said. "It was a great experience. I think it’s a one-time thing for me. I’ll stick with real estate. For sure.”

But one thing’s for certain, Needles has a precious memory of a wonderful father-son adventure.

“Oh, yeah,” Needles mused, "I put his picture in a frame and gave it to him for his birthday. He was liking that.”