# Could this snake eat this kid?

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-this-snake-eat-this-kid/820577
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [August 31, 2018, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-this-snake-eat-this-kid/820577 "2018-08-31T15:26:24Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Showing post:** 44

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### Author: ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2018, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-this-snake-eat-this-kid/820577/44 "2018-09-02T15:10:51Z")

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That’s the second creepy photo of a kid with a snake I’ve seen this week. The other was less creepy, because the kid was older, but the giant snake climbed up the child (who was seated at a desk) and draped itself over the head, coming thiiiiis close to going around the neck. Then the child brushes the snake aside and the snake lets it do so, and the video ends.

Snakes are fun to play with, and I can see keeping a smaller one around. They are more like fish than like actual pets – a living amusement, not a part of the family like a cat or dog or even a rabbit can be.

But I don’t think snakes are smart enough or social enough to have a sense of “this animal is part of my social group”, so I would guess the snake just thinks:

harmful/harmless  
prey/not prey  
warm/not warm  
provides food/doesn’t provide food

And any of those categories could change. I would not keep a snake large enough to eat me or my child. Come to think of it, I wouldn’t keep a snake large enough to eat my cat.

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