Wrong winner named in Florida python hunt

Wrong winner named in Florida python hunt


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MIAMI — Clearly the losers in the recent state-sponsored python hunt in the Florida everglades were the 68 snakes that were captured or killed. You wouldn't think there'd be a question about who was the winner, though.

Officials for the Florida Python Challenge announced Sunday that they had, in fact, named the wrong winner in the month-long challenge to kill or capture as many of the invasive snakes as possible, a contest that saw national attention.

Cash prizes were awarded to those who caught both the most and the largest pythons. Ruben Ramirez, whose snake measured 10 feet, 7 inches, was named the winner and initially garnered the glory.

Later, an embarrassed University of Florida professor named Frank Mazzotti noticed there was, in fact, a longer snake. The real winners were Blake Russ and Devin Belliston, whose snake measured 11 feet 1 inch long.

"I am the one who made the mistake that prevented Blake (and Devin) from getting the recognition they deserved," Mazzotti wrote in an email to The Miami Herald. "I know how important, and rightfully so, the recognition of who got the longest was."

He also posted the letter to Russ's Facebook page.

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The mix-up most likely occurred because the longest snake was tagged and then released back into the wild to be tracked, rather than euthanized like the rest of the snakes. Mazziotti apparently just forgot about it.

The snake hunt itself proved rather difficult. Though the population of invasive snakes in the everglades could be over 100,000, less than 70 were captured or killed by some 1,600 hunters from 38 states.

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David Self Newlin

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