Popular Master Naturalist Gives Everglades Update

There’s always a big crowd on hand when master naturalist Bob McConville takes the stage at Rose Auditorium on the Marco Island Historical Museum campus. Adding petite professional python hunter Amy Siewe to the bill on Wednesday, November 9th, kept the crowd of 100 spellbound.

McConville is well known on the island because of his wildly popular Dolphin Explorer dolphin study/eco tour company. He gave a brief update on the dolphin activity on the island before educating the crowd with an update on the Everglades.

“We have six new babies this year,” McConville said, sounding like a proud grandparent, "and I’ve got at least four more adult females who are on my list of potentials to give birth this fall.”

McConville said the local dolphin population has been adding an average of eight new babies a year over the past four years. He and his team monitor over 120 dolphins. They also name every dolphin they study. He said they identify the dolphins by the marks on their fins. He’s been monitoring dolphins for 16 years now.

McConville then gave the attendees a comprehensive update on the current state of the Everglades, touching on the condition of Lake Okeechobee and the status of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Project (CERP), the single largest restoration program underway in the South Florida Ecosystem.

He also shared a number of his excellent nature photographs and educated the crowd with a number of tidbits about the birds he’s captured with his camera. The audience was delighted to learn that the wingspan of the White Pelican can be up to nine and a half feet—second only in the U.S. to the California Condor (9.8 feet). He also mentions that the eye color of the stunning Roseate Spoonbill doesn’t become red until they mature. He also points out a key difference between the alligator and the crocodile.

“This is the only area in the United States where we have alligators and crocodiles pretty much living side by side,” McConville said. "The way you tell a crocodile from an alligator is by the snout. A crocodile’s snout is a lot thinner.”

McConville is also a master at slipping in humorous anecdotes throughout his presentation. He said manatees eat 10 percent of their body weight a day in seagrass. “That’s about 100 pounds of salad every day,” he said. He then invites the audience to guess what kind of dressing manatees like on their salad. “10,000 Islands,” he deadpans.

McConville then turns things over to Siewe, who he describes as a former homecoming queen.

Siewe quickly wins over the audience with her python hunting stories.

“Bob was talking about all of this wonderful wildlife we have,” Siewe said, “and the Burmese Pythons are doing their best to eat it all.”

She explains that Burmese Pythons are an invasive species that got here through the pet trade. She said that during Hurricane Andrew in 1992 over 900 pythons were released into the Everglades. She said there are an estimated 100,000 to 300,000 pythons in the Everglades today. She said that just about everything except humans are on the python’s menu.

Siewe has captured over 400 pythons herself. 

"Since 2017,” Siewe said, "15,000 pythons have been caught. That’s not a lot. Things look very bleak.”

Siewe regaled the audience with stories of catching 17 pythons single handedly. She said she’s been bitten hundreds of times.

“When they bite you,” she said, “they have razor-sharp teeth. You bleed so much. But their bite is a defensive bite because people are not on their menu. They’re just biting to get away. That’s a good thing."

Siewe said you can see how many pythons have been captured on Marco Island by going to eddmaps.org. She said she received about four to five calls about pythons on the island this summer. She asks if any of them have ever seen a python on the island. No one raises their hand.

“No one, that’s good,” Siewe said. “They are here, but there is a very small chance that you will see one. But you never know.”

Siewe urges anyone who sees a python to call her immediately at 317-605-0081. She advises against calling the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, better known as FWC.

“Call me,” Siewe said, “put this number in your phone. Pythons are not a priority for FWC. If I don’t answer, text me.”

Siewe is often asked if the python hunters’ efforts are worth it, given the enormous number of pythons estimated to be in the Everglades. Her answer is an emphatic yes.

"It takes a python three years to become 10-feet long,” Siewe said. "It takes 200 mammals and birds to get it there. So every single python we take out of the Everglades is saving the lives of hundreds of our native animals. So for me, that is absolutely worth it."