You can Always Tell the Friendly Animals,

[ranaman]

They wag their tales. Took a trip by some scrub remnant west of Disney. There is some more devolpment going on there, so I look for some wildflowers to collect seed from, or some plants to save from the bulldozers. To my surprise just after a car went pass me I noticed a large snake on the road first thought got to be roadkill. I then noticed it slowly crossing the road, first thought got to be a cottonmouth, but then I noticed the tail held off the ground. It was a nice 4' eastern diamondback rattlesnake. I really wanted to catch it so I got it to coil and sound off while I tried to find my collecting gear in the jeep. Let's see heavy duty dipnet, snake hook, plenty of SMALL containers, but nothing I could safely put a large rattlesnake in. So I let the girl back away from into the scrub and disappear. Going to have to tell some herpers about it since there is a devolpement going in this area. Have to remember to put a big rubbermaid tub in the jeep.

[petpoor]

It never fails you never have the right size tub or pillow case when you need it.Did you by chance go to the show in Daytona last weekend? Just got back today we spent an extra week in Destin. When I can borrow my brothers camera I will post some pics of my newest babies.
Tom

[ranaman]

Yes I did go to the expo. Asked Wayne Hill if I could sue him since we are being forced to wear wristbands. Got my pic taken with the genuine chinese alligator.
Saw that Mario is no longer in the big bar-ry place for life. Anyhow I bought some baby Cranwell horned frogs. Really wish I could afford some of the chinese rat snakes or that vietnamese long nosed rat snake. Oh well there is the Easter Expo.

[Reinhold]

Did you see this?

IRWIN, Pennsylvania (AP) An 8-year-old girl was critically injured when her family's 10-foot-long (3-meter-long) Burmese python twisted itself around her neck.

Marcy Mountain found her daughter, Amber, on the kitchen floor and pulled the snake off early Wednesday, authorities said. The mother had been out running an errand.

Amber was not breathing and had no pulse when paramedics arrived, said Chad Mower, captain of the ambulance service. She was in critical condition at a hospital in Pittsburgh late Wednesday.

The family owned five snakes -- four pythons and a boa constrictor.

Mower said the snake had escaped from its pen. "The little girl came across it and began to play with it," he said.

Police say it is not illegal to own snakes like the python and no charges have been filed against the girl's parents.

The python was captured, stuffed into a pillowcase and taken to a pet store, police told Reuters.

Copyright 2001 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

[ranaman]

I saw the story but not what kind of snake was involved. I some times wonder if the media gets the species right. Burmese are fairly laid back pythons, IMO they are deer, peacocks, etc. ambush predators. Reticulated pythons eat monkeys in the wild, and african rock pythons have monkeys throw rocks at them. Both seem not to be as people friendly. Retics have been known to eat people, as I remember a Burmese jade dealer out hunting in the 1930's has the dubious distinction of being the first person to be confirmed to be eaten by a snake. BTW that internet pic of the man eaten by a snake is really a reticulated python. The problem a large prey item inside a snake looks about the same, so I don't know if a real man was involved or photoshop.
Really the best way to get hurt by a python is get them used to being fed the moment the cage is opened. They aren't the smartess critters in the world so you can have the following happen, snake flies out of cage mouth open expecting food. This is followed by constricting with a big snake if you are by yourself you can be in big trouble fast. Being bit by a big python is sort of like sticking your hand into sewing machine, plus there is a bit of shock you know I can't believe I got bit.
The best way to get a python in a feeding mood to let go is give it a dose of alcohol in the mouth. I kept some rot gut liquor in my python room to break up food fights, a little in the mouth and afew seconds later the snakes would release their mouths.
I don't keep large pythons now, after hurting my back and not getting any younger, playing twister with a 18' python at 2am after it popped open its cage wasn't as much fun as it used to be.

[ranaman]

THE PLOT THICKENS, see http://www.kingsnake.com/forum/burme...ages/3111.html
The SECOND CHILD to die? There might be child abuse involved here, there was another case of a child "KILLED BY A PYTHON" , the ME determined that the bites were post mortem and the father confessed to killing the child then provoking the snake to bite the body.