What the heck....python bites baby

[Anatopism]

Parents shouldn't be letting their kids run around in rodent infested cribs, lettin' them smell all rodenty.

[swansonbb]

The "wrapped itself around the foot..." part got me. I could maybe buy off on the snake near the baby for warmth, but nothing else about the story makes sense. Very poor reporting - the story makes it sound like the parents rushed in just in time to avoid the snake eating the baby.

[Vasiliki]

The "wrapped itself around the foot..." part got me. I could maybe buy off on the snake near the baby for warmth, but nothing else about the story makes sense. Very poor reporting - the story makes it sound like the parents rushed in just in time to avoid the snake eating the baby.

That's the part I don't understand either. Why would the snake wrap it's foot? I could understand the snake climbing, because the crib was likely elevated. And the baby is probably warm, which is nice for a cold python. But why would it wrap it? A defensive bite I could see too.

All in all, I've seen more problems with dogs running loose and hurting kids than this kind of thing happen. Just a month ago my friend's puppy was killed in it's yard by a dog that got out of it's yard and jumped the fence. But you don't hear reporters crawling all over that one. Nope. Just snakes.

[angllady2]

I put in my 2 cents.

Stupid I know, but I couldn't help it.

I'd really love to blow out of proportion the dog and cat attacks that take place all the time and make people see how idiotic they really are. Just because you don't care for snakes, doesn't make everyone who does evil. Of course, if I did that, it would just make the HSUS happy.

Gale

[Really]

I found this story while looking for a different story about a different python incident today. This one worries me because it was a ball python and therefore fuel for those who want to ban our snakes to go after even the smaller species.

I am so glad they have the snake up for adoption and that it wasn't euthanized. I am guessing it went into the crib looking for warmth since a one year old baby is too big of a prey item for even the largest BP. Thankfully, the child is okay, but the poor snake was obviously not taken care of. The poor thing is so thin with pieces of shed just stuck to it's body.

Anyone here live close enough to rescue the snake?

[Link]http://illinoishomepage.net/fulltext?nxd_id=389902&nxd_238653_start=25[/Link]

There was also an incident in TN with a python but I don't know the details or what kind of python.

[h00blah]

Of course, if I did that, it would just make the HSUS happy.

Gale

Sounds like a win / win for them either way.

This story is definitely over exaggerating the situation. That's terrible "reporting" but it makes great "news"... People enjoy reading this stuff. You don't see "GIANT 3 FOOT PYTHON found SLEEPING next to a baby!"... That just isn't too scary sounding lol.

This kind of press goes for anything really. Pit bull owners have to deal with this all the time. The scary part is that due to the owners' mistakes, the specific ANIMAL is labeled "dangerous" by the government. Laws to ban these animals soon follow.

[loonunit]

I'd really love to blow out of proportion the dog and cat attacks that take place all the time and make people see how idiotic they really are.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking: Salmonella risk aside, most cats can do a lot worse than the very worst a ball python can dish out. And nobody raises heck, because cats are fundamentally harmless.

An out-of-control, badly-treated dog is actually far more dangerous to a child, and I'll defend dog ownership to the end.

I think the best course of action is to do education with our best-behaved ball pythons, teach responsible ownership, and create more crazy snake people like ourselves. The more people are familiar with ball pythons, the more they'll build the sort of popular base like cats and dogs have. There ARE people at HSUS who would ban cat and dog ownership, too---they just can't get a foothold because so many people love having them.

[Spookitie]

Okay..so we know theres no way the snake could have given the baby bruises and scratches...I'm concerned about where the bruises DID come from. It seems farfetched but could the snake have been a scapegoat?

[h00blah]

Okay..so we know theres no way the snake could have given the baby bruises and scratches...I'm concerned about where the bruises DID come from. It seems farfetched but could the snake have been a scapegoat?

Probably more nonsense added to make it sound scary... As stated above. Parents open the door just in time to save the baby from the clutches of the evil serpent!

Man I should be a reporter .

[Anatopism]

I don't think that the right stance is 'why doesn't the media talk about how much more dangerous dogs are?" The media does go after dogs. Anyone ever heard of a pitbull? doberman? Surely they are more dangerous, but that doesn't mean they should be banned either. It would be nice if the media would focus on exactly what the problem is: irresponsible people.

Okay..so we know theres no way the snake could have given the baby bruises and scratches...I'm concerned about where the bruises DID come from. It seems farfetched but could the snake have been a scapegoat?

It is possible for the snake to have given bruises and scratches - I've been scratched by snake teeth, and I've also had bruises from even tiny kingsnakes have given me bruises. It's unlikely that a snake would have gone in and attempted to actually eat the baby, or even coiled other than just for warmth. It's still possible, just highly unlikely. I agree with a previous poster. It's probably more of a case that there aren't any bruises or scratches at all.. the snake was probably in the crib, or even near by.. MAYBE wrapped around the legg (for warmth), and the parents freaked out, and then the sensationalism took over.