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Why do people keep an 8 foot python as a pet?
A pet Burmese python measuring more than 8 feet long broke out of a terrarium and strangled a 2-year-old girl in her bedroom Wednesday at a central Florida home, authorities said. Shaiunna Hare was already dead when paramedics arrived at about 10 a.m., Lt. Bobby Caruthers of the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office said.
Charles Jason Darnell, the snake’s owner and the boyfriend of Shaiunna’s mother, discovered the snake missing from its terrarium and went to the girl’s room, where he found it on the girl and bite marks on her head, Caruthers said. Darnell, 32, stabbed the snake until he was able to pry the child away.
Authorities removed the snake from the home Wednesday afternoon after obtaining a search warrant. Once outside the small, tan home, bordered by cow pastures, the snake was placed in a bag then inside a dog crate. The snake was still alive.
Burmese pythons are not native to Florida, but they easily survive in the state and can reach a length of 26 feet and weigh more than 200 pounds.
The Humane Society of the United States said including Wednesday’s death, at least 12 people have been killed in the U.S. by pet pythons since 1980, including five children.
So far no charges have been filed.
I don’t know who’s more stupid; the idiot boyfriend for having a python for a pet in a house with children, or the mother who allows her boyfriend with a pet python, to live with her and her children.
Snakes are not pets… period.
After we ban pythons lets ban swimming pools because they are clearly the cause of drowning.
Tragic no matter how you look at it. As I’m reading this Foxnews played the 911 tape.
That is the second 911 tape I have heard this week that is horribly sad. (Billy Mays wife’s call was the other)
The guy didn’t have the proper permits and the proper cage for the snake. He’ll get cited but it won’t mean shit to the family.
During the call he was obviously upset.
#3 – Breetai
Dumb analogy.
#3-Or, lets sue gun manufacturers for causing murders…..oh wait, nevermind
I used to breed snakes. Including Burmese pythons. Anything over 6 feet really requires some serious terrarium security efforts & 2 adults to move. Especially with large breeds, like many pythons and all anacondas. It’s sad the owner was not willing to secure the pet properly. We had 3 levels of security for all breeds that could hurt children or other pets on the premises. In the end, just about any pet can kill a child. That’s the decision every parent must make. As parent myself, I would not bring a snake of any type into my home until my kids are older and when I’d have more time to tend to it. My sincere condolences to the family.
That is one gruesome picture. An eating machine.
If you’re ever writing a story and you need an animal to symbolize evil, a snake is an excellent if slightly unoriginal choice. News stories like this aren’t likely to rehabilitate that image anytime soon.
Does anyone else have a problem with news channels playing 911 tapes. I’d like to know that when I call 911, IN A PANIC, it will not be replayed for the nation.
#10
There are many things that most of us would like privacy on but the dollar is much too powerful and greed is plentiful. There’s nothing that can be done so just pray it’s not you or your love ones on the news 🙂
Why did they need to obtain a warant to remove the snake?
There better be fuckin’ charges brought!
#8 – LibertyLover,
That is one gruesome picture. An eating machine.
I didn’t see any humans in the photo.
As a former snake owner not all pythons are dangerous. Many do not get large enough to harm small children (think royal or ball python). However Burmese pythons and other large breed snakes are dangerous and do need to be caged properly. To say that snakes are not safe is ignorant. However to not properly care for a snake this size in a house with a small child is doltish.
#14 – Me & #8 LL,
To clarify, cold-blooded predators like snakes typically have a predator:prey ratio of about 1:5 while warm-blooded predators like lions and humans typically have a predator:prey ratio of about 1:20 precisely because cold-blooded animals do not need to eat as much as warm-blooded ones.
We humans, for comparison, burn a tremendous amount of our calories just to maintain body temperature. Snakes do not need to do so.
#5
You don’t think snakes are pets… I don’t expect people like yourself to contain enough common sense to comprehend rudimentary analogies.
What is it with people keeping wild animals as pets? I can sort of accept a parrot and that’s about it.
This is why straight people should not be allowed to raise children.
#14, See what I mean? All gone . . .
#19 – LL,
Funny!! You’ve now made me think of this as a much happier image.
Now, if only we could get the snake back to his/her native habitat, release him/her, and leave him/her alone to live the snake equivalent of the good life.
Actually, the snake was 12 feet long not 8. The owner stated this during the 911 call.
“After we ban pythons lets ban swimming pools because they are clearly the cause of drowning.”
Except that swimming pools don’t creep up at night and strangle you to death.
#5
No dumber than claiming that “Snakes are not pets.” There thousands of people with pet snakes that never have a problem. An eight foot Burmese is excessive IMO but that was their choice. Clearly, this guy did not know what he was doing. There is a reason that large snakes like Burmese require permits.
#7
It depends. I wouldn’t have a problem with corn snakes but I wouldn’t allow anything over a yard until the children were older.
#22
However, swimming pools do kill substantially more people per year than snakes. Instead of “creeping up at night” they lie in wait for their victims.
#22
I suppose a better analogy would be that we should ban dogs since four times as many people are killed from dog attacks than from non-venomous snake bites.
If that was his baby it would qualify for a darwin award.
As a snake owner I am very confident that if someone undergoes all the proper training and education, which is to say, if they know what the hell they are doing, accidents like this would not happen. However, just with the incident in Vegas where a three year old child was wrapped by a (I think it was..) 15′ reticulated python, the owner was seriously negligent of his pet. No constrictor that large should be kept in a home with small children, just as a principle.
#18 – I guarantee you that this Burmese Python in question was a captive bred animal and has never been outside of a human environment. Not to mention how many large constrictors and venomous snakes would be dumped into the (shrinking) habitats of the world, which would cause some even more serious issues. Like the problem that is currently going on in Florida – some idiot(s) couldn’t care for their growing Burmese, and therefore released it into the wild. Now they are breeding, and proliferating quite well, which is a problem considering they have no natural predators. Then it won’t be children being constricted in the house, it will be in their back yards.
#24 – Fantastic point. People have asked me why can’t I just buy a dog instead of a snake? Well…
The pick-up line “Wanna play with my python?” suddenly takes on a much more sinister tone.
Sorry – reptiles just don’t make for good pets. Mankind has been breeding canines and felines for pets for thousands of years, and they were bred to be useful, How useful could a reptile be – chasing mice or cockroaches? Or, maybe pythons make good eating? Anybody know?
Nothing wrong with having a snake as a pet. People just don’t realize what a benefit to society these animals truly are. They make you feel macho as hell after a few brewskies and they keep the raccoon, feral cat and yappy little dog populations in check.
Sure, they take a kid every once in a while, but it’s a small price to pay compared to having your taxes increased.
Darnell, 32, stabbed the snake until he was able to pry the child away
This guy has no idea the trouble he is in. Waite until PETA gets wind of this