In South Florida, beneath the tangled brush of the Everglades, a toy rabbit stirs. It doesn’t hop or graze, but to a nearby Burmese python, it could pass for prey. The rabbit is a plush toy gutted of its stuffing and wired with motors,

Burmese pythons, one of the world’s largest snakes, are also one of the most problematic invasive species in South Florida. First spotted in the Florida Everglades in the 1970s, the snakes were introduced, either accidentally or intentionally, through the exotic pet trade.

In the wild, wild world of Florida wildlife management, it’s come to this: robot rabbits versus invasive super-snakes. Yes, really.