Wow! this is horrible!



(AP) -- A 2-year-old girl was strangled by a 12-foot Burmese python Wednesday inside a central Florida home, authorities said.

The snake was a family pet, not one of a fast-growing population of nonnative pythons that has been spreading in the wild in southern Florida.

Lt. Steve Binegar, of the Sumter County Sheriff's Office, said the toddler was strangled by the snake in the town of Oxford, about 50 miles northwest of Orlando. Pythons can kill by wrapping themselves around a human. Paramedics said the girl was dead when they arrived at about 10 a.m. EDT. Authorities did not release the girl's name.

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. The owner found the snake wrapped around the girl and stabbed it while others called 911. It wasn't immediately known if the snake was killed. The newspaper said the snake slithered away and was missing.

Jorge Pino, a spokesman with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said that pythons are not native to Florida and can easily grow to 10 or 12 feet long. He also said owners need a license to possess a python in the state.

Some owners have freed pythons into the wild and a population of them has taken hold in the Everglades. One killed an alligator and then exploded when it tried to eat it. Scientists also speculate a bevy of Burmese pythons escaped in 1992 from pet shops battered by Hurricane Andrew and have been reproducing since.

''It's becoming more and more of a problem, perhaps no fault of the animal, more a fault of the human,'' Pino said. ''People purchase these animals when they're small. When they grow, they either can't control them or release them.''


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/01/python-strangles-2yearold_n_224057.html

How horrible!!! Nuther reason I say only good snake is a DEAD one. I won't let my kids have one as a pet. They are wild an no amount of time spent in captivity is gonna change that.

No doubt while the 'snake expert' parents were busy getting high

Just like Pit Bulls it always ends badly

Let's not go there Mirror, bad owners make bad pit bulls! They can be the sweetest dogs if raised right.

Thats what they always say

I just got sick when I read this...

our children are so precious, yet I know that "things" or accidents can happen...

I just cannot imagine that a parent of a small child would have a snake this size in the home.

It just makes me ill that a 2 year old died like this...

they can be, i agree with redd

and burmese pythons can be the sweetest pythons.

i miss my eight-and-a-half footer...

They can be..............to their owner

In all seriousness, What purpose does havin a snake as a pet fit? They can't wag their tail an greet ya at the door when u come home from a hard day's work. They can't rub up against ur leg showin ya luv. Leave em in the wild where they belong an admire them from afar.

I am not sure about the good owner/good pit bull thing...

I had a friend who had a pit bull, raised with love and in a very non-violent environment. One day..WHAM!! it attacked their young child who was in his bed taking a nap...

nothing provoked the dog...it just went tearing into the bedroom and jumped on the child. the child got some facial lacerations, and thank God that the parents were home and intervened in the attack...

animals are animals...

Hey, we can start a Pit Bull thread an debate the issue if u like. The only dangerous pit, is one raised by a bad owner.

I agree, then I do not like snakes anyway...

The thing is, if people want to have a snake like this as a pet, and around children, then I would hope that they would take extra precautions to protect their young children.

I guess I feel that is the responsibility of the parent regardless of the pet.

That can happen with purty much any breed of dog. Had a friend who's Doberman turned on their 5yr old. The dog an child had been raised together from day one. The only reason pits have the rep they do is thanks to the new media an drug dealers.

When my oldest daughter was still livin with me, she begged me to let her get a snake. I flat out told her "you bring a snake in my house an it's gonna be a dead snake" I don't trust them

yes, Redd...that is what I mean...a good owner does not mean that any dog, including a Pit bull is going to always behave.

so, the good owner/good dog thing is not always true...

the only reason i don't have a snake is that i can't handle feeding them. they are amazing pets, affectionate and not over-needy. a contented snake will curl around you and just...cuddle.

they only eat once every two weeks and make minimal messes. easy to clean up after and care for. a nice heat-lamp in their aquarium...

i'm wondering why they would keep the snake in a room where it COULD get out. i fully trusted my ryoko, but that didn't mean that she was going to be able to sneak up on my babies. C-clamps on the cage and a dead-bolt on her bedroom door.

I totally get what ur sayin Hun. I just think it's very unfair that Pits have gotten such a bad rep. I'm just sayin for the most part if u raise a dog with luv an kindness, they're gonna be a good dog no matter the breed. Sorry to get ur thread off course.

Isn't that a unfair stereotype of snakes there are plenty of "good" snakes that eat rodents and other snakes. Pythons make poor pets because of their size and some the people that buy them don't know what they are doing.