Escaped snake kills two children in New Brunswick

There is a lot of conflicting info bit the sad part is this is real.

http://m.usatoday.com/article/news/2619837

I agree, the initial story doesn't make a lot of sense, a snake large enough to kill a child traveled through the buildings ventilation system? Also seems unlikely that a snake could kill one child without disturbing the second child. But of course the media does not always get the story correct, at least initially....

Originally Posted by dzoo

I agree, the initial story doesn't make a lot of sense, a snake large enough to kill a child traveled through the buildings ventilation system? Also seems unlikely that a snake could kill one child without disturbing the second child. But of course the media does not always get the story correct, at least initially....

No, these kids were really killed by the African rock python.

Now I'm no expert on snakes in any way, shape or form, but that definitely seems like very rare behavior, correct? A large snake going through a ventilation system, and then constricting, not one, but two kids? Were they constricted at the same time, seing as the other was not awakened while the first was killed?

I didn't think that constricting was a defensive measure taken by large snakes, but again, I'm not any kind of expert. But searching through previous reprts of constrictors killing children, it always seems to be one child, and usually eaten, or attempted to be eaten:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-daughter.html
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/01/0...l#.UgDmfZLVCWE

Is this striking anyone else as very strange behavior for a snake?

Who has said it constricted them? These were small children. All it would take would be for the snake to coil on top of them and they would be incapable of any movement, let alone breathing.

You're correct, the articles that I have read mentioned the words "strangled" and "crushed", but I made the jump to constricted incorrectly, but I think it's easy to see how I got there.

Also, if the snake was just laying on top of them, I really don't see them dying from it. It was a 45kg snake, average size of a 7 year old boy is about half that, but with ir's weight distributed along it's 4 meter length, and over the two kids, it just sorta seems unlikely. They did say it fell from the ceiling though, so it could have fallen on their necks or something, making the weight do much more damage.

After re thinking it, I may just be underestimating the effect of the snake's weight. It would be like having 500lbs on top of my body, which would definitely do some damage. I still think I may possibly be able to wiggle out from underneath though. Who knows, they are doing the autopsy today, so more info should come out.

The autopsy is bring done in my city and I have a friend that works at the hospital who said he would pass any info on he could.

Originally Posted by KORBIN5895

The autopsy is bring done in my city and I have a friend that works at the hospital who said he would pass any info on he could.

thank you Kevin, I am very interested to hear the results of the autopsy, I hope you will share what you can.

I just woke up and called him but didn't get an answer.