News: 2 die in rock python attack

Sigh. All just makes me sick. :(

Poor kids!

I'm also calling complete and utter BS. Autopsies won't happen til Tuesday

I heard about this earlier... absolutely tragic.

It seems fishy to me too. I hope that whomever is responsible (snake owner or otherwise) is held accountable.

As per NERDs latest Facebook status, a 3rd child was in the room...WTF!?!?!? That makes it even less likely

Quote:

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Ok, we need to be thoughtful and LOGICAL about the Python in the news that "possibly" was involved in the death of two children. I am now talking to people on the inside and learning some facts here. We MUST do damage control here and learn what happened before we sign on to any of this. Two children did in fact die and a snake was found in the room. Autopsies are occurring on Tuesday by coroner to see the EXACT cause of death. It was an African Rock Python.... 14' (let's guess that weighs 50 - 60 lbs). There were 3 children sleeping there when this happened. The two brothers died and the third child woke in the morning with no idea of what had happened. It appears possibly the ceiling caved in? Possibly the ceiling collapsed and was the cause of death. The African Rock was found in the room. When approached it was sluggish and NOT with the children. It was NOT attacking anyone. Well, I know pythons and this entire tale sounds WRONG. Pythons do not attack like this, they don't kill one yet along two people without resistance or alarm. They don't abandon their prey easily and will continue to struggle as they attempt to eat a meal that is too large. non of this makes sense to me. We need actual information that has not been turned out by the media. We need to use our EXPERTS and LOGIC to fight this situation and lend a voice of reason. EVERYONE, do not think for a minute a snake actually attacked and killed these two children without knowing way more. From what I am hearing on the inside it does not sound this way one bit!. We all need to assume INNOCENCE on the snake's behalf before any of us say people should not be keeping Pythons and such. They can say that WAY more about keeping dogs, more importantly LARGE BREEDS. We are working on this, we all need to do damage control and EDUCATE anyone that runs with these BOGUS FACTS. More to come.....

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Awful that people have died, but I also have a hard time believing this is possible.

All other obvious evidence aside, as a 7 year old, I honestly think I would have kicked that snake's ass. Or at least made a hell of a mess resisting. I mean, I would have been in little league by that time, and although that is one powerful predator, it hasn't evolved a means of defense against a weapon. What 7 year old boy doesn't have some kind of object designed for whacking other objects in their room? That's practically all I did at that age.

I realize I'm being a little ridiculous here, but I have a very hard time believing this situation could happen. Especially in such a way where somebody would walk into the room and initially think the kids are asleep. Simply no way that a kid wouldn't put up a LOT of struggle, by snake standards. They don't generally hunt prey with self-awareness and opposable thumbs.

Again, whatever happened to these kids was awful, but I can't imagine this snake angle is even possible.

Ed. Just read Squamish's post above. This makes it even less likely. The thing didn't even hiss? Not to mention the sound of a 60 lb animal dropping 10 feet seems like it'd wake you up.

The scenario is getting a bit ridiculous by now, isnt it?

Worst case scenario, if the snake did it:
2 boys, age 5 and 7, not too young to jump out of their beds and cause mayhem and scream and shout. And even if they get strangled by a snake they will wake up and have a few seconds to cause mayhem.

A really big snake comes crashing through the ceiling, breaking a ceiling tile, falls to the floor, noone wakes up. The snake approaches one, does a catch-bite, biting then pulling hard followed by strangling, which involves wrapping around the boy. The other one doesnt wake up, no scream, nothing. The snake rejects the prey item, or attempts to swallow and fails, then moves on to the second one, again, cath-bite, pulling in, strangling action.

in the end both dead and the python is somewhere else.

Now with a third boy in the room, WTF? its unreal even with two boys, age 5 and 7. What age was the surviving third boy? What i remember from when i was 5 was soldering electronic components out of old electronics for fun, climbing trees to insane altitudes, explaining to others that crystals dont just exist but have to grow, stuff like that, i would have put up a fight, no way for a python to kill me silently.


Really, the autopsy reports are the thing. I am convinced when both bodies have bite-marks consistent with the python.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SquamishSerpents

As per NERDs latest Facebook status, a 3rd child was in the room...WTF!?!?!? That makes it even less likely

---

Quote:

---

Ok, we need to be thoughtful and LOGICAL about the Python in the news that "possibly" was involved in the death of two children. I am now talking to people on the inside and learning some facts here. We MUST do damage control here and learn what happened before we sign on to any of this. Two children did in fact die and a snake was found in the room. Autopsies are occurring on Tuesday by coroner to see the EXACT cause of death. It was an African Rock Python.... 14' (let's guess that weighs 50 - 60 lbs). There were 3 children sleeping there when this happened. The two brothers died and the third child woke in the morning with no idea of what had happened. It appears possibly the ceiling caved in? Possibly the ceiling collapsed and was the cause of death. The African Rock was found in the room. When approached it was sluggish and NOT with the children. It was NOT attacking anyone. Well, I know pythons and this entire tale sounds WRONG. Pythons do not attack like this, they don't kill one yet along two people without resistance or alarm. They don't abandon their prey easily and will continue to struggle as they attempt to eat a meal that is too large. non of this makes sense to me. We need actual information that has not been turned out by the media. We need to use our EXPERTS and LOGIC to fight this situation and lend a voice of reason. EVERYONE, do not think for a minute a snake actually attacked and killed these two children without knowing way more. From what I am hearing on the inside it does not sound this way one bit!. We all need to assume INNOCENCE on the snake's behalf before any of us say people should not be keeping Pythons and such. They can say that WAY more about keeping dogs, more importantly LARGE BREEDS. We are working on this, we all need to do damage control and EDUCATE anyone that runs with these BOGUS FACTS. More to come.....

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OK now i guess we know what to do. Get real data.

i put out two possible scenarios for YOU to DISPROVE:


- gas leak or chemical leak, killing the boys, freaking out the snake

- murder, using the snake as a cover


i really REALLY want to see if they find bite-marks consistent with the python on both bodies, or not. They bite hard for a pull-bite, pull in, strangle, kill, then attempt to swallow. Autopsy reports all the way, these are CRUCIAL. Also data on how the scene looked like upon arrival of owner / relatives / police.

accidental double-post

Can the public in any way demand that this information is released?

This I am not sure of, but I want the full report, as I'm sure everybody in the reptile community does!

Wouldn't a gas / chemical leak kill the third boy?

Also, wouldn't a heavy snake like that break the bones of a five year old? Just a thought.