Snake kills toddler: Should this be a pet?

I will admit I'm no fan of snakes, or any cold-blooded pets for that matter. But when I saw this shocking story of the Sumter County baby who was hunted in the night in her crib by the family's pet Burmese python, I just can't fathom what makes this creepy thing such an attractive pet.

It is attractive, I will admit, with smooth shiny scales that make excellent purses. But these snakes consume large amounts of food, and due to their size, require large, often custom-built, secure enclosures, which can be very expensive. This is the reason, so many of them are released to the wild by pet owners and are now wreaking havoc in the Everglades. Remember that stunning picture of the 13-foot python that burst open as it tried to swallow whole a 10-foot alligator? Well, in the past five years, the U.S. has imported more than 144,000 Burmese pythons, according to National Geographic. Hatchlings sell for as little as $20. But once the cute little baby snakes turn into 15-foot-long beasts, they get dumped into our wet national forest.

Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., introduced a bill in February to ban the import of pythons. Broward County Rep. Kendrick Meek, who is running for the U.S. Senate seat held by Mel Martinez, introduced the same bill in the House in May. Hearings have yet to be held. And there has even been talk of exacting a bounty on the snakes in the Everglades.

Back to this family pet. These snakes are quite docile most of the time. There are reports of how often the child held this python or the other pet, a 6-foot boa constrictor, and found them almost affectionate. But they also have instinct. The mother's boyfriend, Charles Darnell, 32, told authorities he last checked on the snake shortly after midnight. It had escaped its terrarium. He put the snake in a bag and put it back inside the glass case. Then he put a quilt over the terrarium and tied something around the quilt. State law says pythons are supposed to be kept under lock.

When next he awoke he found the 8-foot snake wrapped around Shaunnia Hare, age 2. Typically, this snake will use its sharp backward-pointing teeth to hang on tight to its prey (the girl had bite marks on her head, according to one report). To keep the prey from fighting, it wraps its muscular body around it and contracts its muscles, killing the prey by constriction.

Does this seem like a family pet to you?

-- Sharon Kennedy Wynne

Comments

[Mojo B.]

This was a hefty price to pay for a 'status' pet. We have pets which (A) can show and receive affection, be played with, trained,etc. then we have pets that just (B) eat, sleep, poop and be observed; then we have what I call (C) Status pets, which can be parts A & B, but are rare or unusual and kinda elevate the status of the owner. 'What would you like to buy today Gomer?' 'Ah want somethin' different that not too many people have, maybe a gila monster or a tarantaula...I know! A Burmese Python, that's the ticket!' A chinchilla or a ferret would have been a better choice.

[whitney]

I dont think its really about the snake, its more about the pet and its understanding. I as a mother of a 4 year old and 11month old, I believe a parent should have common sense as far as pets if the pet can typicly eat half its wieght or even a quarter of its weight in one setting then its dangerous... I had a pet snake as a kid and it was no longer than about 14 inches long.... it ate only new born mice.... it was harmless for the most part. I kno i would never allow a animal as big as that in my house or even in a 1 mile radius.. call me over pretective but i value my childrens life.....

I am truely sorry for the childs family but that man will more than likly get charged with child indangerment and possibly child abuse....
I understand that he has paid a great deal to this tragic accident.

[Regina]

Yeah so much for the rat a month theory. It is owner error to a point. But............the snakes should not have been in a home with such a small TARGET. I have a 3 1/2 year old son and he is like all kids and is fascinated with the idea of bugs and such. But that being said, I am trying to teach him the dangers of any and all animals. And I most certainly would not have something like that around him, that is why I have an exterminator come in for the bugs. We live in the woods and of course there are going to be all kinds of dangers from that over the years. But I will do my best to teach him that snakes are not pets, they are not cute and cuddly. They infact are in most cases one way or another a deadly creature.

[Renata Castro]

Anyway my preyers go to the toddler's family.It sure was an accident.

[Renata Castro]

I'm from Amazonas ,Brazil and in my state snakes are not pets at all and we have lots of those here,in the wild.Some people that live by the river sides use the snakes fat as medicine and that is all.I will never understand why some people in other parts of brazil and also inthe world,like to have them as pets.A snake is supposed to be in the wild not in a house.

[Momof4]

Over a 25 year span, pit bull breeds were the breeds most likely to cause death from a biting incident. Of course, as others have pointed out, the term "pit bull" could apply to many bully breeds.

Maybe other dogs bite more, like cocker spaniels, but they don't cause death.

In these 25 years, pit bulls caused 116 deaths or 4.64 deaths a year. That's not a lot nationally, but it's still the greatest number out of any type of dog. This doesn't include all the people who were maimed in dog bite incidents.

These statistics are from 1982-2007.

Breed Deaths
Pit bulls 116
Rottweiler 63
Wolf-dog hybrid 19
German Shepherd 9
Chow 6
Akita 1
Source(s):
Dog Bite Info
http://www.dogsbite.org/bite-study-death...

[tina]

what article are you talking about bc i sure didnt see those statistics anywhere in the above article

[Elbee]

Snakes are like any other potentially dangerous animal in the wrong hands. Dangerous dogs, snakes etc should require their owners to undertake strict licensing on husbandry and safety aspects. By all accounts this guy was unlicensed, so where do you begin??? I think he's already paid a hefty (and sad)price. I agree with Stefan Caporale's post. There are far worse things out there that can kill people without dragging in typical and biased phobias about snakes.

[Zog]

This isn't the animal at fault.

As said, pet dogs kill a great deal more people than snakes. This has only been highlighted simply because it's unusual, and snakes, as always, are discriminated against because popular culture dictates that they're supposed to be. Once again this is an isolated incident. And also I have to point out that pythons DO NOT consume a large amount of food. They can go for literally months without eating to no adverse effect. It's a rat a month, really, and the snake will be fine.

And as for the irresponsible owners releasing pets, it's partially down to education. Particularly in the US, you get idiots who buy reptiles because they think they're 'cool'. If anything, a good idea would be to ban the sale of snakes from pet stores (these places often give poor conditions for animals and sell them at expensive prices anyway) and instead only allow only certified breeders to sell snakes only to people they deem worthy. That'd make sense in my view, as a keeper of snakes, lizards in inverts (no pythons though).

[another mom]

These critters should be banned in the state of Florida. Not because they are a dangerous pet, but because we have a serious problem with these snakes invading our native habitat. Over the years people have been getting these snakes as pets and when they grow to their enormous size the owners can no longer feed them, and they release them into the wild where they feed on our endangered native wildlife.

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/UW286

[stefan caporale]

according to the article that was quoted 12 people in 28 years have been killed in the USA by their pet python. That is good odds.

3 kids a year get killed by pitbulls
100 dies a year being thrown off a horse
200 die a year swiming in a pool under adult supervision