Big snake Kills...

Recently a ten foot snake killed its owner! Can you all believe it?
   Theres a lot in this article that doesn't make sense: such as seven people can't remove a 10 ft snake? What did the roomate do to help, other than 911? Something isn't being mentioned here...

Heres a copy of one of the articles:
DENVER POST (Colorado) 11 February 02 Aurora man strangled by pet python (Jim Kirksey)
Aurora: A large pet python overpowered its owner and squeezed him to death in the basement of an Aurora home Sunday afternoon.
Authorities were called to 1357 S. Biscay St. at 2:27 p.m. on a report of a snake choking a man, authorities at the scene said.
Sgt. Jack Daluz, one of the first officers on the scene, along with officer Doug Stark, said they found the man, whose name wasn't immediately released by authorities, on the floor of the basement "with a Burmese python around his neck."
He said the victim wasn't struggling at that point.
"The part of the snake that wasn't wrapped around him was coiled and it was looking at us," he said. "It wasn't pretty."
Daluz and Stark used their police batons for leverage to pull the reptile away from the man's neck, but it took reinforcements from the Aurora Fire Department to peel the pet off the man. The snake was about 8 inches in diameter, Daluz said.
Fire Lt. Dave Varnum said it took seven men to unwrap the 8-to-10-foot-long, 60- to 80-pound python from around its owner, and firefighter Sigfried Kline wrestled it back into its cage.
Varnum said it isn't clear why the reptile attacked its owner, who had raised it from a small snake to its present size. It didn't appear to be hungry and it wasn't shedding its skin - two times when snakes tend to be more aggressive, Varnum said.
Two women who also live in the house found the man with the snake around his neck but they were unable to unravel it, so they called 911, Varnum said.
Jay Larson, who lives across the street, identified the victim as Rick Barber and said he has known him for about a dozen years. Larson said an ambulance technician on the scene told him the victim had no pulse when they arrived, but they had managed to restore it before taking him to the Medical Center of Aurora.
He was pronounced dead of asphyxiation in the hospital's emergency room, hospital spokeswoman Bev Petry said.
"He probably was the nicest man in the neighborhood," Larson said. "He would do anything for you. Nobody would talk bad about him around here."
Larson said he has petted the python many times in the past, and he described it as docile.
Aurora Animal Control took custody of the large python.
Varnum said it is illegal to have a snake over 10 feet long in Colorado, and in Aurora it is illegal to have one over 6 feet long.

well that is a tragedy,,,it does sound fISHY how it took so many people but having an 11ft burmese I KNOW they are to be ALLWAYS treated with the greatest of respect and not handled without at least 4adults present, <img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mad.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=''> &nbsp;it is sad that tragedies like this will continue due to lack of education,respect,common sense,,,,when handling large pythons <img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':0'> ,,,,,,peace thomas davis T&amp;S REPTILE FARM

<img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=''> &nbsp; &nbsp;


I dont get either ? &nbsp;I breed large boids among other animals and one of my albino burms who then was 16 ft. was a docile quiet kitten tempered animal ( unless you looked like a rabbit ) and every day I would come home and open the cgae door and give her a pat and rub her and she was always sweet. &nbsp;One day I came home and went over to her cage and opened it up and before I knew what hit me that same albino burmese python that I hatched out of the egg had latched onto my hand and was wrapping me. &nbsp;She wrapped my arm, part of my chest, neck and part of my face, but I managed to yell out help and my youngest son who has been raised around these animals ( who was 12 at the time ) started peeling her off my face and neck and kept at her until she finally gave up and realized that I was not a rabbit !!! &nbsp;Now I was bruised and my right hand is scarred and I no longer even open the cage if I am alone. &nbsp;I have always practiced good handling and if I was going to move her I would have had both my sons there or a couple of friends who knew what they were doing, but I was not moving her. &nbsp;Now one twelve year old boy kept me from getting killed by my animal, why couldnt all those other people save that guy ? &nbsp; Answer: they were afraid of what the snake might do to them ...... self preservation in their eyes, plain and simple. &nbsp;I cant accept that all those people couldnt seperate a ten foot burmese python from a man. &nbsp;I have raised these snakes for many years and yes they are dangerous especially if you get a case of the stupids, but this snake was not that strong !!! &nbsp;That man died for no good reason in my opinion. &nbsp;

Gary Walsch
Sunshine State Reptiles

Fishy or not, a man was killed and you can't argue with that. spam_I have read several versions of this incident and I have to say, normally local papers and the news media are guilty of exaggerating the size of the snake involved, but in this case I think 10' is probably conservative. spam_That makes at least 2 deaths caused by large Burms this year alone, that I know of, and it's only February! spam_This is not a good thing people.

Not only is it bad because real people have lost their lives, but this will also eventually have serious repercussions on the herp hobby in general, some of which are already being felt. spam_If we as a whole (reptile enthusiasts) don't start regulating ourselves, someone else will likely do it for us. spam_Both keepers and sellers need to use the utmost discernment and discretion when dealing with snakes that have the potential to take a human life.

only 2 deaths this year by big snake is quite a shame, those poor people
Sooo.... how many dog attacks this year resulting in death or injury?<img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt='???'>?Nothing against dog people [I have one]
so why do all the regulators of this stuff make a big deal over a snake[not to downshadow what happened]
the point I'm making is dog attacks are more frequent , and are just as deadly

I find the situation a bit odd!Unless the guy didnt know anything about large constrictors(which im not sure of)than i cant phathom how a burm that size could have killed him.Maybe there is more to it.The serpent could have been set up <img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt='???'> !My point being?Well, about 7 years ago one of my large burms grabbed a hold of me and tried his best to take me out.He was 18' and around 180-200lbs.I myself at the time only weighed in at a mere 125lbs.Im not a big guy at all! However,i was all alone (which yes was stupid)feeding my snakes and he came out of his cage to &quot;help&quot; me along.He grabbed me by my waste and started to wrap.I yelled for help but to no avail(family was out side) so i was left on my own.I managed to wrestle him off me.It can be done.two or more people DO make it a lot easier though and true i always have at least 1 person with me know but it seems that there are too many snakes succesfully killing humans!People need to know the importance of educating themselves on these serpents before none of us are allowed to keep these wonderful animals.Oh yeah,one more thing.In case some of you are wondering,the snake was not hurt or killed either and i had several puncture wounds which healed in a week/two.Thanks for &quot;listening&quot; to me.Sonny

Sonny brought up an interesting point in .... what if the snake was set up ? &nbsp;Would'nt it be possible that someone strangled this guy and then enticed the snake ( by way of scenting the already dead owner with .....rabbits ? ) and then blaming the animal for the mans demise ? &nbsp;I know I have seen to many mysteries but strangerthings have happened.


Gary Walsch
Sunshine State Reptiles

Bumper sticker: My python has a crush on you.

Although a burmese coiling around your waist can not be as dangerous, it will probably take only a couple of minutes before you pass out if it constricts your neck (blood will stop flowing to your brain). Once that happens you will be chocked to death without even knowing what happened to you. It's disturbing to see so many pop-singers, actors, etc. playing around with large snakes around their necks. That's the worst part of your anatomy where you can have a large constrictor get a hold of you, particularly if you are alone.

I once got hit by my burm while feeding him. He was only about 4 ft at the time. He got me on the back of the hand, and started throwing coils around my arm. The teeth of his upper jaw sank into the tendons on the back of my hand. He held on like a pit bull, and after a minute or so of a very painful struggle (for me anyhow), I managed to pry him off.

Now, I have never owned a burm before this one, and that was quite the wake up call! If a 4 footer, could put up that much of a fight, what the hell could a 20 footer do? It is not hard for me to imagine how a big one could overpower an adult. I will NEVER make the mistake of handling him alone when he gets over 10 ft. Just glad I learned that lesson when he was relatively small.