Firefighters nab 11-foot python that was snacking on farmer’s livestock

Is an 11ft Burmese big enough to eat a goat?

Firefighters nab 11-foot python that was snacking on farmer’s livestock
By Christina Veiga
The Miami Herald


Lt. Scott Mullin / Courtesy Photo - MDFR
Firefighter Jorge Salazar satnds at the head of hte snake, followed by firefighters Luis Perez, Alex Lopez and Vensen Stephenson. When Lt. Scott Mullin arrived at a Redland farm on the edge of the Everglades, this is what he saw: three firefighters huddled off to a side, and another holding the fat tail of a hissing, 11-foot Burmese python.
This was all in a day’s work for Mullin, a member of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue’s Venom 1 team, whose job it is to respond to calls about dangerous, unwanted critters.

For the firefighters – not so much.

“I noticed one of the firefighters was holding a machete,” Mullin said. “He was holding it more for comfort — like a teddy bear.”

An unnamed farmer called 911 Friday to report that the 12-inch thick tail of a snake was poking out from underneath a storage trailer in the 22000 block of Southwest 264th Street, west of Krome Avenue.

The farmer shared with the 911 operator that several animals had gone missing lately — pet cats, chickens, even a goat.

Firefighters on tanker 60, a slightly bigger truck that carries its own water to fight wildfires, responded about 10 minutes before Mullin.

So, just how does one deal with a call about a brown-and-black reptile that has 100 or more teeth, can kill by squeezing the life out of its victims, then swallows them whole?

Firefighter Jorge Salazar, fearing the 40- to 50-pound snake would slither away, bravely did the only thing he could think of.

He grabbed its tail.

And waited for help.

Meanwhile, a colleague armed himself with a machete, “for our safety,” said Lt. Alex Lopez, who responded to the scene.Salazar was all alone holding the python’s tail.

“He said he felt comfortable holding it,” Lopez said. “I said, ‘If you feel comfortable, by all means, put your hands on it.’ ”

The plan, admittedly, was not fully thought-out.

“What are you gonna do if this snake turns around?” Mullin asked Salazar.

“He said, ‘I haven’t gotten that far,’ ” Mullin said.

The snake, lethargic after a recent chicken dinner, wasn’t in a position to make any sudden moves. Its bulging belly prevented it from slithering down a hole under the storage trailer.

“Most of its body fit, except for the part that had the chicken,’’ Mullin said. “So now it’s stuck, like a cartoon character.”

In an unsuccessful attempt to escape, the reptile regurgitated its dinner.

The strategy didn’t work.

The anti-venom team will now use it for training and education programs.

The whole thing was caught on tape by a crew from Animal Planet, hanging out with the Venom 1 team to tape a show called Swamp Wars. The show airs at 9 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday nights. Friday’s run-in with the python will be featured next season, Mullin said.

Invasive Burmese pythons have become a nuisance in the Everglades and a threat to native wild life. The largest one captured by Miami-Dade’s anti-venom team was 18-feet long, Mullin said.

The Venom 1 team has responded to such calls since 1998. The unit has shipped anti-venom as far north as Canada, helped aid a soldier and young child bitten by a Cobra in Iraq, and most recently treated a Duke University student who was airlifted to Miami after being bitten by a snake in the Ecuadorian rainforest.

Lopez was glad to have Venom 1 around last Friday.

“It’s a big benefit to us,” he said. “We just don’t know how to handle an animal like that.”

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/08/0...ot-python.html

Ok, now I might believe the snake would go after cats and chickens, but a goat, really? They expect us to believe a snake that small could eat a goat. Even a baby goat would be far too big. Truthfully I'd even think those barn cats could get away easily or cause some serious damage, cats that still have all their claws are nothing to mess with.

Who the heck gets paid to proof read these articles?

If it was a small baby pygmy goat.....

No doubt it ate a chicken. Maybe it ate two chickens. But cats disappear all the time, and so does livestock especially in Miami where if you leave it long enough, your own butt might disappear, along with your car, your wallet and your dignity.

No doubt none of the article's writers thought to look up area missing kids and atribute those to the python eating them, or that would have been included as well.

Dont believe it would take a goat unless like stated above it was a baby pygmy. Love how the media (including AP) is making burmese out to be some type of super snake like something out of a movie. I do believe if the general public were even remotely educated on true burmese facts this sensationalized media craze would fizzle out.

Originally Posted by Wolfy-hound

If it was a small baby pygmy goat.....

No doubt it ate a chicken. Maybe it ate two chickens. But cats disappear all the time, and so does livestock especially in Miami where if you leave it long enough, your own butt might disappear, along with your car, your wallet and your dignity.

No doubt none of the article's writers thought to look up area missing kids and atribute those to the python eating them, or that would have been included as well.

Sure didn't eat a full grown pygmy goat, they sound pretty big :-)

Females, called does, weigh 23 to 34 kg (51 to 75 lb) and males, called bucks, weigh 27 to 39 kg (60 to 86 lb). Wither height ranges from 16 to 23 in (41 to 58 cm). Their color can range from white caramel, medium caramel, dark caramel, dark (red) caramel, silver-light grey agouti, medium grey agouti, dark grey agouti, black with frosted points, solid black, and brown agouti.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pygmy_goat

Thank God they sent the venom team. I hear just one drop of python venom, spit straight into your eyes, can kill an entire village AND spread salmonella.

Noelle

Originally Posted by rcarichter

Thank God they sent the venom team. I hear just one drop of python venom, spit straight into your eyes, can kill an entire village AND spread salmonella.

Noelle

Venom 1 are the only group specifically trained to deal with Snakes in general........So of course, they were the ones sent......