Python Strangles 2-year-old

[Klark]

Check the story here. (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ikR537iriP_MNsEkTxCq9Dnkfs5gD995QM3G0)

I always see tales of this or that happening on those shows on Discovery when they're looking for the largest snake and what have you, but right here it is. Twelve-foot snake vs. two-year-old girl. The snake unfortunately won.

Though stabbed, the snake apparently slithered away and is missing.

[LV426]

Sheriff's officials told the Orlando Sentinel that the snake broke out of a glass aquarium overnight, went to the girl's bedroom and attacked her.

I really resent this statement. This makes it sound like the snake was plotting to eat the little girl. The snake is not at fault here it's the damn idiot owners that don't realize that having a large snake around a small tasty child is not a good idea.

[BlasphemousHeart]

What part of 12ft. Python doesn't shout dangerous? These stories of neglectful owners just tick me off. You should have to have some kind of trainig before being allowed to buy a snake.

[greggchamberlain]

constantly amazed at human stupidity and also, as shown in the article (very well written to show extent of the problem) at human ability to alter the environment in so many ways.

folks in Florida will soon understand how Australians feel about exotic pets and their owners.

[Shaun]

Like all animals you have to take every precaution you can to ensure the safety of the animal and take into consideration the people around it. I feel for the parents of the child but I am puzzled on why the kid was signaled out? Typically snakes do not target and attack people, and the report didn't say the kid screamed or anything of that nature? Just crazy messed up.

[LV426]

Like all animals you have to take every precaution you can to ensure the safety of the animal and take into consideration the people around it. I feel for the parents of the child but I am puzzled on why the kid was signaled out? Typically snakes do not target and attack people, and the report didn't say the kid screamed or anything of that nature? Just crazy messed up.

Apparently small children resemble rodents.

[UNODRAGONE]

misleading stuff like this annoys the hell out of me. Now people will think snakes purposely target little children :mad:

[Tux]

My question is:

Why in the bloody blue hell is someone keeping a twelve-foot long couple hundred pound snake in a GLASS aquarium?

[UNODRAGONE]

My question is:

Why in the bloody blue hell is someone keeping a twelve-foot long couple hundred pound snake in a GLASS aquarium?


Exactly, I understand the majority oif reptiles are housed in glass aquariums but a reptile that big it should have been obvious the cage was too fragile

[zeroxwolfx]

Check the story here. (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ikR537iriP_MNsEkTxCq9Dnkfs5gD995QM3G0)

I always see tales of this or that happening on those shows on Discovery when they're looking for the largest snake and what have you, but right here it is. Twelve-foot snake vs. two-year-old girl. The snake unfortunately won.

Though stabbed, the snake apparently slithered away and is missing.

Like many people have said, the snake isn't plotting to get anyone, its just being a snake. If you can't afford, or are just too dumb to properly care for a large animal, then you probably shouldn't keep one. I didn't catch what kind of snake it was, link was down, I saw a similar story though and I think it was a Burmese python? The majority of Burmese pythons are actually quite docile, and people own them their entire lives without incident, of course I'm referring to captive born, captive bred ones, wild ones are usually aggressive, as any wild animal tends to be. Granted, they can be a bit nippy as hatch-lings, but there are small and other than being scary, its not dangerous, and given proper handling, they outgrow it fairly quickly.

Point being the majority of large snake owners are responsible and give proper care to their animals, but the few freak incidences like this caused by stupid owners are increasing old fears of snakes. So much to an extent that congress will soon discuss a bill to ban the trade of all snakes, not just pythons, but ALL snakes in the US.

[fencerabroad]

Sometimes people are just not very smart. There is no reason for this sort of thing cause the snake isn't evil and we cirtainly have the technology to contain it. I think the problem comes when people forget that pets aren't human and start thinking their animals "love" them and hold very human thoughts and feelings. I had a teacher who owned a snake fore years. I'm not sure what kind it was but she and herhusband treated it like part of the family. Like a pet cat or dog, it often slept on their bed. One night her husband was gone for a business trip and she is sleeping when she realizes it has gone a ll straight and stiff beside her. She calls the vet and finds out it was sizing her up to see if it was big enough to eat her. Moral? Animals are still animals and if you get a pet who can eat you, you have to be aware of the fact. After all, animals aren't people, as much as you may love them, all research shows they don't think that way. If you like dangerous animals, remember that they are animals and do the research to take care of them right.

[Lithium]

As a python owner, I can say that with proper handling, a snake shouldn't be dangerous. A glass enclosure is strong enough to house a snake, but snakes are also crazy escape artists. My python is 3-4 feet long, fully grown, but he can lift up the two harry potter books I used to weigh the lid of his cage down with. Now I have a padlock on the lid!

My high school teacher had a 12 foot red-tailed boa that was the most laid-back and docile snake I've encountered, but he still wouldn't let anyone hold it without direct supervision. Any animal can act unpredictably. While the story about the little girl is very sad, it's irresponsible for people to own a large snake if they have a small child.