Quick Take
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- There's a legal reason why this pizza can't be sold, which only makes the deal stranger. Why it can't be sold →
- The same ingredient topping this pizza is also being turned into jewelry and oil. Explore snake-based products →
- An ecological disaster in the Everglades quietly became someone's business model. How invasions became business →
There are some pretty interesting business models out there, but have you ever exchanged a snake for a meal? A recent viral story from South Florida shows a restaurant owner who accepts pythons as a form of payment. Wildman’s Pizza, Pasta, and Python will accept pythons in exchange for pizza. This Instagram post by @nbc6 covers this story, which could only come out of Florida.
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Python Payment
Python for pizza sounds made up, but it’s a real thing. The restaurant Wildman’s Pizza, Pasta, and Python in Everglades City, Florida, has gone viral online for this strange business model. The owner, Dusty “Wildman” Crum, is a professional and experienced python hunter. Due to the ecological problems invasive python species have in the Everglades, specifically the Burmese python, he noticed an opportunity to turn this problem into a barter system. Because these pythons cause such a large disturbance to the local wildlife, he encourages those who have caught and removed a python to trade one in for a large pizza. No matter the size of the snake, one python can get you a free large pizza, and he also uses the snake in his cooking.
Crum didn’t want the snakes to go to waste after being captured, so he put the meat to use. While there are health regulations to consider, he has figured out a way to legally and safely sell snake meat. He uses the snake meat as pizza toppings but doesn’t stop there. Crum also uses the skin for leather products, the bones for jewelry, and the fat for snake oil!
Since he cannot legally sell the python-topping pizza, the barter system works in his favor, as he can give them away. Those who have eaten python meat describe it as chewy and gamey, similar to the flavor of alligator, another southern specialty. The python pizza philosophy helps remove an invasive species without letting the snakes go to waste, all while providing brave customers with a unique experience.
