I am a retired math teacher and a whole life lover of reptiles. I love to catch and keep these creatures. The discussion on the dangers of constrictors is a bit off. You cannot directly compare dog deaths, lightening deaths, etc. with snake deaths without taking into account the prevalence of these animals in homes. There are so many more people with dogs than with large constricting snakes that if you do not account for this, any conclusions are simply wrong. My guess is that large constrictor snakes are far more dangerous to have in a home than dogs. I was telling my wife just now that I would never ever have a large constrictor in the same house as a small child. Never. Snakes - as you all know - make Houdini look like an amateur when it comes to escaping. Sure, there are far, far less lives lost per year from snakes versus dogs ...probably close to one to a 100, but there are more than likely 1000 times more dogs than large constrictors. That, if it were true - and I am not saying this is exact by any means - then large constrictors are 10 times more dangerous in the house than dogs. That being said, hey, it is fun to own snakes and keep them healthy, no?