Girl, 2, strangled by pet python, police say

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latin_rite said:
According to the experts. Pythons over 6 feet are considered dangerous even for adults. That is they could easly kill an adult. (If it got out while they were sleeping)
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Absolutely. I do not understand why anyone would want to keep such an animal in a private home. It is truly puzzling to me.
 
Dale_M said:
Fla. trapper captures 14-foot python near daycare center
He said it was big enough to swallow an 8 year old child.
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Just found this article about the capture in the on-line edition of our local paper. That is a big snake! :eek:

"Python captured in Florida weighs in at 207 pounds

MIAMI — The staff at the Okeechobee Veterinary Hospital in Okeechobee, Fla., routinely handles large animals. Along with household pets, they treat hogs, horses, cows and ornery bulls.

But the massive critter that showed up Thursday stunned everyone. It turned out to be the biggest Burmese python found yet roaming free in Florida. "…

Full article here: stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/sciencemedicine/story/4AB40A6C8E453480862576050017FD83?OpenDocument
 
SwizzleStick said:
Just found this article about the capture in the on-line edition of our local paper. That is a big snake! :eek:

"Python captured in Florida weighs in at 207 pounds

MIAMI — The staff at the Okeechobee Veterinary Hospital in Okeechobee, Fla., routinely handles large animals. Along with household pets, they treat hogs, horses, cows and ornery bulls.

But the massive critter that showed up Thursday stunned everyone. It turned out to be the biggest Burmese python found yet roaming free in Florida. "…

Full article here: stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/sciencemedicine/story/4AB40A6C8E453480862576050017FD83?OpenDocument
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Probably looking for food at vet. hospital.

State could make some money if they let hunters go in and start making handbags etc.
 
The Orlando Sentinel is reporting that the boyfriend of the python victim’s mother was arrested on drug charges.
OXFORD - Sumter County deputies today say they arrested Charles Jason Darnell on a series of narcotics charges.
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Darnell, 32, of Oxford, is one of the residents of a home on County Road 466 where on July 1 a Burmese python suffocated 2-year-old Shaiunna Hare as she slept in her crib.
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Feanor2 said:
But there are snakes and then there are

SNAKES- sorry I tried to make it BIGGER but couldn’t figure it out.
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I guess the family was comprised of the only people on the planet who didn’t know that pythons eat goats, pigs … and people.

Question for Florida residents: do the alligators in Florida eat pythons or to the pythons eat alligators?

Also: are the pythons protected species? In other words, is it allowed for people to hunt pythons in Florida? I would imagine you could get some really nice boots made from the snake skin.
 
LisaA said:
Unfortunately they are purchased as babies when they are smaller and relatively harmless. A friend of mine (a zookeeper) owned several pythons and boas. All purchased as small snakes and the largest one was 15 feet long when I last saw him! One of the issues with snakes is that you don’t have to buy them from a pet shop or animal dealer. My friend’s snakes laid eggs and she sold/gave away the baby snakes. I am sure never thinking about the potential consequences. While it might be possible to enforce laws prohibiting retail outlets and animal dealers from selling to the general public, I don’t know how to stop the private selling…rather like the purchase of a handgun on the black market.

BTW I used to work with a man who had a full grown cougar at his home. He’d raised it from a cub and claimed it was gentle. However, imagine had it gotten loose and being unafraid of people would clearly have been a frightening sight.

Lisa A
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I don’t mean to be excessively graphic or anything, but I thought that for a female snake to lay eggs, ummm, she had to be [serviced] by a male snake. So there had to be some snake breeding going on. Not a normal activity in an apartment.
 
aicirt said:
Does anyone see any reason why anyone should own an exotic wild animal?

Doesn’t it make sense to stop the importation of these animals for public safety? You can go into many pet shops and buy one.

Galveston was hit with a hurricane and later the police found a tiger roaming about. No one seemed to know it had been housed in a garage on the island. WHO needs a tiger in a garage?

This thing with the snake will happen again. There are too many around where they don’t belong. This is insanity.
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These lions, tigers and pythons eat a lot of food; they are expensive to keep around as pets. [What are these people thinking???]
 
LisaA said:
A truly horrible story but not surprising given the circumstances. These are large and potentially very dangerous. I’ve seen them up close and personal. A dear friend who is a zookeeper has owned large (l5 foot) pythons for years. They are in secure cages but there is always the chance they will escape, particularly when being handled. While she is obviously qualified and experienced with large snakes, I truly do not believe they should be allowed in residential areas.

Although my friend is a professional zookeeper, why anyone would want something like that in their home is beyond me. Aside from the danger they SMELL HORRIBLE and you must keep dead rodents on hand to feed them. That this couple would risk the lives of small children to have an exotic animal is simply unfathomable. I hope like that horrible chimp attack incident, this will result in a restriction on keeping dangerous animals in private homes.
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Lisa A
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A 15 foot snake is heavy and difficult to “handle”.

I guess some people need something special to help them with their personal inadequacies.

Unfathomable to me.
 
fultonfish said:
These lions, tigers and pythons eat a lot of food; they are expensive to keep around as pets. [What are these people thinking???]
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It happens enough that the actress, Tippy Hedren, has a reserve, Shambala, which is stocked with exotic cats that were bred to be sold as pets or for commerical use in the US. She has rescued them.

I’ve seen on the Pet Planet station where bears have been rescued from cages of third rate fairs and circuses.

Along with the python problem, Peta could address the above rather than its recent assault on kids munching burgers.
 
"Couple charged in girl’s python death
Pet 8-foot python escaped from cage and killed 2-year-old girl

OXFORD, Fla. - A 32-year-old man and the mother of a Florida girl suffocated by a pet python last month have been charged in the toddler’s death.

Jaren Ashley Hare, 19, and her boyfriend, Charles Jason Darnell, were each charged with manslaughter, third-degree murder and child abuse, said officials from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office."…

Entire article here: msnbc.msn.com/id/32553037/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/
 
"Python “Nightmare”: New Giant Species Invading Florida
Christine Dell’Amore
National Geographic News
September 14, 2009

Already squeezed by the invasion of the giant Burmese python, Florida now faces what one scientist calls one of the U.S. state’s “worst nightmares.”

Africa’s largest snake—the ill-tempered, 20-foot-long (6.1-meter-long) African rock python—is colonizing the U.S. state, new discoveries suggest. "…

Entire article here: news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/09/090911-pythons-florida-giant-snakes.html
 
SwizzleStick said:
"Python “Nightmare”: New Giant Species Invading Florida
Christine Dell’Amore
National Geographic News
September 14, 2009

Already squeezed by the invasion of the giant Burmese python, Florida now faces what one scientist calls one of the U.S. state’s “worst nightmares.”

Africa’s largest snake—the ill-tempered, 20-foot-long (6.1-meter-long) African rock python—is colonizing the U.S. state, new discoveries suggest. "…

Entire article here: news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/09/090911-pythons-florida-giant-snakes.html
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And in the news today is the capture of a 400 lb. Burmese python being kept as a pet. I doubt this thing would have gotten to such weight in the wild but when it is guaranteed three meals a day or whatever, what does one expect. This was found in Fl.

A wildlife expert told me Burmese can live as far north as Tampa.

I fail to understand why they were allowed to be imported into the US. And I don’t think it is too wild an assumption that some nut has let cobras loose too.
 
aicirt said:
And in the news today is the capture of a 400 lb. Burmese python being kept as a pet. I doubt this thing would have gotten to such weight in the wild but when it is guaranteed three meals a day or whatever, what does one expect. This was found in Fl.

A wildlife expert told me Burmese can live as far north as Tampa.

I fail to understand why they were allowed to be imported into the US. And I don’t think it is too wild an assumption that some nut has let cobras loose too.
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:bigyikes: :eek: :bigyikes: :eek:

It is bad enough to have large constrictor snakes on the loose, but the thought about the cobras is very frightening too because it wouldn’t surprise me either!
 
SwizzleStick said:
:bigyikes: :eek: :bigyikes: :eek:

It is bad enough to have large constrictor snakes on the loose, but the thought about the cobras is very frightening too because it wouldn’t surprise me either!
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Never have I been so glad that I live in a cold climate. I hope the problem is dealt with swiftly.
 
And the above article on the African snakes said there’s a good possibility the Africans and the Burmese could produce a combo of both.

I still ask what have these government agencies been doing to allow these things plus the big cats in the US to be owned by private citizens? This is another example of the Federal Government in action. It is just one big hot mess!!
 
SwizzleStick said:
"Python “Nightmare”: New Giant Species Invading Florida
Christine Dell’Amore
National Geographic News
September 14, 2009

Already squeezed by the invasion of the giant Burmese python, Florida now faces what one scientist calls one of the U.S. state’s “worst nightmares.”

Africa’s largest snake—the ill-tempered, 20-foot-long (6.1-meter-long) African rock python—is colonizing the U.S. state, new discoveries suggest. "…

Entire article here: news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/09/090911-pythons-florida-giant-snakes.html
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Just came across this article, which pretty much restates concerns in the one above, though the title in this one is a bit more sensational.

"Hybrid man-eating pythons? Florida is on alert.

Atlanta – In an case of real life imitating Hollywood, the US scientific community is increasingly concerned that two nonnative python breeds currently slithering free in south Florida could morph into a giant man-eating swamp coil."…

Entire article here: news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20090914/ts_csm/asupersnake
 
SwizzleStick said:
Just came across this article, which pretty much restates concerns in the one above, though the title in this one is a bit more sensational.

"Hybrid man-eating pythons? Florida is on alert.

Atlanta – In an case of real life imitating Hollywood, the US scientific community is increasingly concerned that two nonnative python breeds currently slithering free in south Florida could morph into a giant man-eating swamp coil."…

Entire article here: news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20090914/ts_csm/asupersnake
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Oh, yay, just what the world needs. :eek:
 
Are there any recipes for snake meat?

Python burgers?

Kabobs?

I would have thought the alligators would have eaten the pythons as fast as they hatched.

Or are the pythons eating the alligators?

Any pythons or alligators in nutria territory?

Can we turn the pests against one another?
 
fultonfish said:
Are there any recipes for snake meat?

Python burgers?

Kabobs?

I would have thought the alligators would have eaten the pythons as fast as they hatched.
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I am under the impression that snakes are typically land animals. (I live in the downtown of a relatively large city, so my experience of snakes is rather limited. From what I see on TV I think alligators normally live in shallow water.)
 
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