Re: Folklore or What?

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Posted by Dann on April 10, 2003 at 20:07:25:

In Reply to: Re: Folklore or What? posted by Dann on April 10, 2003 at 20:03:32:

::Is there a documented case of a captive snake killing a human baby? I know its a funny question but I keep on getting "Well, they have killed babies in there cribs" from people. I'm guessing this is actually just urban legend since snake related deaths are pretty low, like less then deaths by falling vending machines.

::Jeff Robertson

:Here's One: PLAYING WITH THE BIG BOYS: HANDLING LARGE CONSTRICTORS
by Lenny Flank
Last year, a 19-year old man was killed in New York City while preparing to feed his 13-foot Burmese python. In January 1994, a 6 foot python escaped from its owner in Santa Rosa, California, by crawling down the toilet, causing a panic among residents in the apartment building. In July 1993, a 15-year old boy in Commerce City, Colorado, was attacked and killed by an 11-foot Burmese Python. In June 1991, a nine year old boy in Long Beach, California, was bitten on the foot and coiled by a 12-foot pet python. In August 1984, a large python escaped its cage in Solvay, New York, causing a panic for nine days before it was found in the ceiling. In November 1980, a seven-month old girl in Dallas was killed when the family's 8-foot python escaped its cage and crawled into the crib, smothering the infant.
Every time an incident like this occurs, the consequences for herpetoculturalists are severe. The fear and misunderstanding which surrounds reptiles (and their keepers) is increased, authorities become more likely to pass uninformed laws in an attempt to "do something" about the "problem", and the efforts of responsible herpers to educate the public about these animals are undermined and crippled.
The problem of fatalities and attacks by captive snakes is very small, but is growing steadily. Between the years of 1978 and 1988, according to the American Federation of Herpetoculturalists, there were four reported instances of amateur keepers killed by their snakes, and only one of these involved a Burmese python (the others involved Reticulated pythons). A check of the New York Times index between 1970 and 1992 turned up only one report of a fatality involving a captive python. In the five years since then, however, at least two deaths and a number of attacks have been reported, nearly all involving Burmese pythons. This appears to be a direct result of the growing popularity of captive Burms. Inexperienced snake keepers and large potentially aggressive constrictors make a particularly dangerous combination. The sad fact that many thousands of hatchling Burmese pythons have been purchased in the pet trade--most of them by people who are inexperienced and unprepared to deal with them once they reach a large size--means that the number of incidents involving these snakes will only increase in the future. Everyone who has or who may obtain in the future one of the large constrictors, therefore, must be aware of all the safety precautions that are necessary to keep these snakes, and must practice all of these safeguards until they become second nature.
Only five species of constricting snake get large enough to pose a serious threat to human life. These are the Reticulated Python (Python reticulatus), the Amethystine Python (Morelia amethistina) , the Green Anaconda (Eunectes murinus), the Indian Python (Python molurus--the Burmese python P.m. bivittata is a subspecies of the Indian) and the African Rock Python (Python sebae). Only two of these, the Burmese and the Reticulated, are commonly found in the pet trade. The Reticulated python can reach a maximum length of over 30 feet; the Burmese python can reach lengths up to 20 feet. The common Boa Constrictor (Boa constrictor) has never been demonstrated to have ever killed a human being, but it can reach adult lengths near ten feet and can sometimes be difficult and unsafe to handle. For purposes of this discussion, then, any constricting snake that reaches an adult size of eight feet or more should be considered potentially dangerous.

Hope this helps you, Dann

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