Python hunter Bayo Hernandez prefers his snake ground up like hamburger meat with ketchup, mustard, and mayo. Another hunter fancies the slithering scourge of the Everglades in a stir fry or chili.

Donna Kalil, one of Florida’s most famed snake hunters, usually hates seeing invasive pythons get away, but on a postcard-pretty morning a few days before Christmas, she teamed up with researchers ...