Is it possible the scene was horrific, obviously the snake, but the police aren’t getting into those details out of respect for the family?
Crazy theory but, if the children had been drugged, might the snake have killed them and then changed its mind because the prey tasted funny?
Could be that acoustic tile stuff. A snake could burst out of that pretty quietly.
Seems unlikely to me.
Many things are possible, though unlikely. As for the smell, it would have been obvious to the snake during killing, not just after death. And I doubt anything short of really noxious substances would be a deterrent. But drugged kids or drunken kids would explain lack of resistance and perhaps lack of screaming sufficient to wake everyone nearby. That’s why I mentioned autopsy results “including toxicology” back in post 72.
A bit of an update:
According to HowStuffWorks, which is probably not the definitive word on snakes, they do not have a sense of taste.
I am yet to read anywhere that the snake constricted. Is it not possible that the snake merely coiled up on top of them and they suffocated? I’m pretty sure if you laid a one hundred pound bag of potatoes on a small childs head and chest they would have a hard time getting it off and any screams would be muffled. I pretty sure I have read about cats sitting on a babies face while the baby is sleeping and suffocating the child.
That’s routinely done when an animal kills or seriously injuries a person.
ralph124c:
I thought the consensus was that the taipan is the most venomous snake in the world.
I was in a hotel one night with my then 4-year-old daughter. A fire alarm went off in the middle of the night, which was a truly earsplitting sound. She did not wake up. Not from the noise, not from me snatching her up and taking her outside. Kids can sleep very deeply. I’ve also seen both kids fall out of bed and not wake up.
Granted it’s not the same as a physical injury occurring during sleep, but perhaps it’s possible that they didn’t wake until they weren’t in a position to scream.
And if you just had to keep one, it’s best to avoid the first and third, that have notoriously shitty temperaments. Burmese pythons by contrast are usually pretty docile. Still wouldn’t own one, especially if I had a kid, but I’ve known a couple folks that did and they were manageable. Rock pythons I’d stay well away from.
There is no real consensus that I can tell, just a handful of candidates with varying claims to infamy. Gaboon vipers have ridiculously long fangs with truly massive venom glands, all the better to inject copious amounts of a moderately toxic venom. Taipans are definitely more toxic by LD50, but neither species have killed very many people at all.
Meanwhile seemingly less well-known species like the Russell’s Viper probably kill thousands every year.
I guess all kids are different - My anecdote: When I was 8 or so I slept through a violent storm, a tree falling outside my bedroom, a branch coming though my window, the branch being removed from the window and plastic going up and then only woke up at dawn when my dad fired up the chainsaw. Apparently I had legendary sleeping abilities and snakey could have had his way no problemo.
I say we leave the matter up to the scales of justice.
It might shed some light on the situation
But we have not yet determined that an animal did kill or injure anyone – just that police say it looks to them like that happened.
It’ll be interesting to see given the noteriety of this case what effect it has on the current popularity of African Rock pythons. Sentiments can be surprising sometimes and while I’d expect them to fall out of favor it well could go the opposite way and they become in vogue for awhile. If anyone monitors availability and price and sees a trend going one way or another I hope they’ll report back what they see.
lieu, I don’t know how to monitor this, but I believe that there will be people who will seek rock pythons as pets now so they can say “This is the kind of snake that killed those kids.”
Sadly, I can imagine exactly that happening. The macho mystique of giant snakes surely contributed to the popularity of Burmese pythons in the 90’s.
But it won’t be happening (much, anyway) in Florida. The seven giant snake species including the African are now “Conditional Species” here. (Link) By the way, African Rock has been divided into two species, the Northern African python (Python sebae) and the Southern African python (Python natalensis. Conditional reptiles are not allowed to be acquired for personal possession. Reptile dealers, public exhibitors, and researchers can possess them under specific permit. People who may have possessed any of these in the past may surrender them “no questions asked” at Amnesty Days held by the wildlife agency, or directly to Conditional Species permit holders. I have been qualified to hold those permits, in order to facilitate surrenders as well as to accommodate wildlife agencies needing housing for those species, such as for pending court cases.
Oh, and Crotalus, I have been “angry” bitten by the additional species you missed. A 16 foot green anaconda smacked me on the side of my chest once. It left a bruise the size of a football that lasted for a couple of weeks. 
Wouldn’t even have to be macho or morbid, just simple name recognition.
You go out python shopping, and there’s the Rock Pythons right next to Paper Pythons and Scissor Pythons.
People are more likely to pick the one they’ve heard of, even if it’s not a conscious decision.
The crazy is strong in humans.
Good grief. Someone has a python in the house, a wild creature that is famed worldwide for being a highly efficient jungle predator, and people are dubious that it could have possibly been a danger to two little kids?