The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is set to launch its annual campaign to remove invasive snakes from Everglades.

Snake hunters across Florida are participating in the annual “Python Challenge.” The goal of the 10-day event is to remove invasive Burmese pythons from the state. The Python Challenge began at midnight on Friday and will conclude on July 20. The challenge offers a $10,000 cash prize to the hunter who removes the most pythons.

With $25,000 of prizes in play including a $10,000 grand prize, the effort targets invasive Burmese pythons, seeking to protect traditional Floridian wildlife from the slithering scourges introduced to the state as pets in the 1980s only to develop a foothold in South Florida after Hurricane Andrew’s historic destruction in 1992.