Am I wrong for thinking this may have been brought back up so that certain "people" would be able to see it and have just one more thing to show as "proof" of how dangerous these wonderful animals are?

I too think its a little fishy. Especially since it inspired an argument. At this time? When we are fighting for the right to be able to keep these animals as our pets? Come on...

It was a terrible thing to happen. I feel bad for his famliy. But it is never the animals fault. Never... Think about Steve Irwin. How Terrie told the world it was a terrible accident but Steve loved the animals he was working with and would never want anyone to think bad of the stingray that merely acted in defense. The guy that lived with bears for years and vidoetaped every moment. He was eaten by one of his bears. Everyone who knew him agreed that he went the way the he would have wanted if given a choice.

As for the retic.. 11ft huh. That doesnt really matter. My super dwarf is only a bit over 5 ft and she is stronger and hangs on more tightly than any ball python I have ever handled.

A responsible keeper would have had 2 people there or at the very least, some other easy to reach tool for getting the snake off. Pepper spray on his belt, spray bottle of alcohol, hot water.. Heck, even the simplest trick of bending the snakes tail backwards hard at the vent area. People just get too comfortable in their own knowledge and experience. Then over time they become more careless. The only name I would ever call that man is careless.

This was a completely freak accident which could have been prevented. It happened. Ok what is that? A total of 4 or 5 people killed by a constrictor somewhere in the USA in the last 10 years?? It has been said on here before. Thousands die each year from car crashes, household accidents, dog attacks, suicide, drug over dose, medical malpractice, food poisoning, common viruses, shark attacks, etc..

Big snakes should not even be taken into account with these figures. Bottom line is, more education is needed. If channels like animal planet and organizations like HSUS & PETA focused more on education than scare tactics, we would not be in the situation we are in. Freedom of choice & free speech have not been free for many years...