Michigan State Police trooper kills 7-foot snake

Tuesday, August 19, 2008
PORT SHELDON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) A Michigan State Police trooper fatally shot a nearly 7-foot long snake that slithered onto a road in Ottawa County and was spotted lunging at passing motorists.

The Muskegon Chronicle reports a driver called 911 Monday after seeing the snake attack a pickup truck. The truck's driver, Brian Ahlin, says he repeatedly ran over the snake, which ''kept bouncing back with his jaws wide open.''

WZZM-TV reports Trooper William Coon arrived to find the snake still on the attack. The Grand Rapids Press reports Coon used his .40-caliber handgun to kill the snake.

A pet shop later identified the 6-foot, 10-inch snake as a Burmese Python. Authorities say the snake likely was a pet that either escaped from its owner or was deliberately released because of its size.

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How sad is this......made me sick. It angers me to think this, but the trooper probably did the most humane thing possible (without even realizing it) by shooting it, putting it out of its misery after being run over repeatedly by that truck driver.

As much as i hate to say it... regular people should not be allowed to buy these snakes. They are NOT appropriate for the average run of the mill keeper who just hops into the pet store and says "hey look!... a snake, im gonna buy it!". They are for experienced keepers, who have worked with, and have experience keeping large snakes.( or at least people who have done the proper amount of research ) Makes me sad to see things like this, that animal could have had a good life with the right keeper.

Here's a picture of the 'Burmese Python' the trooper killed. It's one of those rare South American Burmese Pythons.

The guy that ran over it should be charge with cruelty!
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http://blog.mlive.com/chronicle/2008...sive_pyth.html

Brian Ahlin thought he saw a large stick in the middle of 156th Avenue in Ottawa County Monday morning until it reared up and started attacking the side of his pickup.

"I was driving to my home on Polk Street and saw this SUV on the side of the road and I what I thought was a stick in the road," he said. "But as I got closer I said, 'That ain't no stick.' And then as I got closer I realized, 'Shoot, that's snake.' Then I got even closer and I thought 'That's a python!' Then, it started attacking the truck."

Ahlin said he was glad to be surrounded by his 5,000-pound 2004 Chevrolet Silverado pickup as the python repeated lunged into the driver's side with its jaws wide open. Ahlin said he was concerned his 50-pound dog would jump out the window and suddenly "become a snack for that snake."

"I'll tell you, this snake was big enough it could have swallowed a kid," he said. "I mean the girth on that thing was huge."

Ahlin concluded he needed to do something and his Silverado, built like a rock, was up for the job. He put the truck in gear and repeatedly ran over the snake.

"I must have run over him 10 times and it didn't do anything," he said. "It was like running over a piece of rubber. He kept bouncing back with his jaws wide open. Let's just say, I wasn't going to stick my head out."


Chronicle/Terry Judd
Trooper Bill Coon displays in the Grand Haven Post a seven-foot-long Burmese Python that had to be killed Monday morning after it lunged at passing vehicles on 156th Avenue in Ottawa County. Enlarge photoTom Moore of West Olive, the driver of the SUV on the side of the road, witnessed the snake attack and called 9-1-1. State Police Trooper William Coon of the Grand Haven Post was dispatch. When Coon arrived, he found a 7-foot-long python lunging at anything that moved, including himself.

"It's jaws were really wide open and he came after me," Coon said. "Even after being run over, it was still lunging."

Coon said he had no choice but to kill the snake. It took three bullets, including one to the head.

"In the eight years I have been a trooper, I've never responded to an animal complaint like this one," he said.

Coon said a Holland pet shop identified the snake as Burmese Python, which is found in Southeast Asia but are bred in the United States as pets. These snakes are capable of growing to more than 20 feet in length and up to 200 pounds.

According to several Internet sites, there is a national problem with owners "dumping" their snakes once they grow to seven-15 feet. At that length, the snakes require eating rabbits several times a month, can produce as much waste as a horse and are extremely difficult to handle.

Coon speculates the python killed in West Olive was a pet that either escaped from its cage or was deliberately released by its owner tired of caring for such a large creature.

However the snake ended up in West Olive, Ahlin believes it was a real danger to children and dogs.

"Something dangerous like that with kids around? Well, we just could not have something like that. I just did not want that thing getting out in the woods."

You have got to be kidding me....

LMAO wow gotta love Ignorance...thats a BOA.

Who was the pet store that ID'd that!? morons.

Jesus Christ i'm friggin seething right now....I am so glad I don't live on the west side of the state, I'd be behind bars by the end of the day. What a bunch of morons.

We had a couple of snake stories in Maine last month. The first was headlines - Python Captured Downtown. The deadly python was tuned out to be a milksnake. Common in Maine but probably not downtown. This guy, with gloves on, was holding the 20" snake with two hands as if it was ready to attack.

The next day we had a venomous reticulated python found in washing machine. The article actually stated that it killed by biting people.

Both times the so-called experts were cited as the source of the mis-information.

WTF is a 7 foot boa doing loose on the west side of middle Michigan? Look at the wooded forest it was found in. Poor thing was probably abandoned after the owner got bored with caring for it and released it into the wild. Sadly to say at least the snake lost its life within a few hours rather then the slow miserable death it would've had once October set in. And who the f*ck is this genius herpetologist who identified the new species of Burmese? I'd like to shake his hand he deserves a Nobel prize and a promotion! I can't believe this was published. The article makes it look like the snake from the movie anaconda LOL. Where's ICE Cube when you need him? LOL
It just goes to show that we need more herp education in classrooms.
I remember when schools used to have assemblies with groups like MSH and they would bring in all kinds of cool stuff for us to learn about. Whatever happened to those? Oh yeah we spent all the funding on foreigners and weapons.
This is just a shame. I bet there are 100 people on this site who would've gladly paid shipping to take care of a Free 7ft Boa.

Not only is it misidentified as a burmese python, when it's a boa..
The "makes as much waste as a horse"?
Umm. Not unless you have a horse that only poops a couple times a month maybe I think. I owned horses, and the amount they put out... nuh-uh.
The misinformation is terrible. And it was attacking a truck...
It could eat my 50 lbs dog??? Or a kid?? Did they look at it? It's about a big around as the officer's arm.
What a beautiful animal. What a waste.

It's incredible how ignorant the average human being is about SO MANY things, not only snakes.