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Refuge, DDWS to present next lecture in series

By REFUGE/DDWS 2 min read
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REFUGE/DDWS Amy Siewe will share her adventures and facts about the Burmese python at two slideshow presentations.

Today, she goes by the name “Python Huntress.” But when Amy Siewe first moved to Florida, she had abandoned a successful real estate business for her newfound passion of hunting the Burmese pythons threatening Florida’s native wildlife.

She will talk about her experiences in free lectures on Feb. 6 at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. in the Visitor & Education Center auditorium at the J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel.

Siewe was one of the first hundred hunters the state hired. She has bagged over 600 Burmese pythons. The biggest, which she captured by herself, measured 17 feet 3 inches and weighed 110 pounds. Siewe has raised close to $600,000 by donating hunts to charity auctions.

The skilled hunter has appeared on several TV programs, in documentaries and magazine articles, and on podcasts. The New York Times, National Geographic, Time Magazine, The Today Show, Fox & Friends and Reader’s Digest are among media to have featured her.

Siewe also runs her own guiding service to take people out on python hunts. Out of her love of snakes and a desire to make something good from their demise, she turns their skin into leather products, some of which are available for purchase in the Refuge Nature Store.

A book signing will follow the lecture.

The DDWS is co-hosting the program — part of its annual “Ding” Darling Winter Lecture Series — with the refuge and sponsored by Susan and Cliff Beittel.

The remaining lecture schedule is as follows:

– Feb. 20: Author Charles Sobczak, “The Great Florida Invasion — From Pepper to Pythons”*

– Feb. 27: Author/photographer Budd Titlow, “Bird Brains: Inside the Minds of our Feathered Friends”*

– March 13: Actor Joe Wiegand, “President Teddy Roosevelt Reprised”

*Book signing will follow lecture

Seating is limited on a first-come basis. Early arrivals can check in after 9 a.m. and after noon and obtain an entrance wristband so they can explore the Visitor & Education Center, Wildlife Drive and trails beforehand. Saved seats must be filled 15 minutes before the lecture or risk being reassigned.

For more information, visit dingdarlingsociety.org/lecture-series.

The refuge is at 1 Wildlife Drive, Sanibel.