Awesome....Just Awesome....:rollseyes:

I just posted a response. I'm sure I'll get a lot of negative ratings from the anti-snake crowd. :P

Here was my comment:

Unfortunately, a lot of these comments are coming from people who are uneducated about snakes, or let their fear and media sensationalism form their viewpoints.

I am a professional woman who works in corporate America, making a respectable salary, and I have a small ball python collection, and I also breed them. Although the ball pythons never grow to the size of the burmese python (most weigh 5 to 6 pounds as adults), stories like this have nothing to do with the snake, and everything to do with poor judgement/decision making.

Snakes are not vicous, they don't eye us as food, we aren't in their food chain. There's no documented case of a human being eaten by a snake. And there have been less than 10 deaths from a python since the 1980's, and how many hundreds, even thousands of people, including children who have been attacked or killed by a family pet dog? And yet all you people aren't up in arms about how stupid someone was for having a dangerous dog in their home around children? Ten deaths vs thousands of deaths. Which animal is more dangerous to keep in your home?

Someone else mentioned Fatal Attraction, which is sponsored by the HSUS and their lackeys. They have an agenda - and agenda of fear to help them pass future legislation to limit our pet ownership. Even your dogs and cats, but it starts with the reptiles. Ever so benignly, they target the reptiles. Next will be exotic fish, birds, small mammals, including gerbils, guinea pigs, hamsters - all non native to the US and classified as "exotic" pets.

I do not keep my pythons for any sort of status symbol. Other than my immediate team-mates, most of my co-workers are not aware of my hobby. It's not something that I brag about or show off. I don't take my animals outside and parade them in public. I do take them to some of the hundreds of reptile shows that are held around the country every year to share with other reptile enthusiasts.

Get your heads out of the sand. Just because YOU can't imagine someone wanting to have a snake as a pet, doesn't mean that other people, including veterinarians, doctors, attorneys, and other well respected members of our community don't enjoy keeping them, and do so responsibly.

This young woman made a mistake. I don't know the circumstances, but if I were to guess, she made what we call a SFE (stupid feeding error). She likely had food nearby and the room was scented with the smell of the prey, or she defrosted a rodent and didn't wash her hands. If it smells like a rodent, and gives off a heat signature of a rodent - well, it might be a rodent. A snake is going to strike and ask questions later. Responsible keepers know this and we don't make these SFE's. Responsible burmese keepers don't feed or handle snakes over 8 feet without another able bodied person with them.

It's sad that the snake has to be demonized because of a careless owner and closed minded people.

yeah! YOU GO RABERNET!!!!!!!

:clap:

You go girl! That's awesome and totally and completely true. Another thing about Fatal Attraction is the riduculous way they classify owning a BP or Boa on the same level as owning rattle snakes or goddan vipers. The people in the show that were killed by these snakes were careless and just plain stupid (like the one that let the viper run free in her house). They even classify snake owners with people who keep pet tigers, or chimps. I'm sorry but keeping pet tigers and chimps is on a whole other level than owning a harmless scared of everything BP. I love how the show also tries to find the worst possible stories of deaths and 'snake hoarders' they can dig up. The cases they find are so extreme that it makes everyone who owns a snake look like a adrenalin, ego maniac, junky. Shows like this only spread factless, and senseless fear, they do not educate.:mad:

VERY surprised the cop didn't just shoot the animal. This is just what we need....why...WHY haven't I seen a headline about a DOG attack?! Dogs attack over 2 million people a year (probably MUCH more, a ton of them are not reported) and 800,000 of those bites require the person to go to the hospital, and 20 people actually die from dog attacks. Why the HELL have I not seen it in the paper, or even on "Fatal Attractions"?