No reason to kill the snake for doing exactly what it is biologically programmed to do.
Now, I probably wouldn’t blame the cop if he did, because it sounds like it would’ve been the most immediate and obvious way to save the woman, but I applaud him for saving it.
While experienced snake handlers may be able to completely avoid snake attacks, surely you can’t be saying that the cop is “100% at fault” when the snake attacked him. People who have nothing to do with snakes in their regular life shouldn’t bait snakes, but the general population, and cops in particular, are under no obligation to learn about the instinctual behavior of each member of the animal kingdom so as to handle them with the respect nature demands.
The first time I read your post, I thought, “Wow, I guess nobody should ever be stung by a bee, because bees only sting because they’re threatened.” That’s not exactly the strongest argument.
My first thought when reading the article was that the cop would pull out the pepper spray and give the serpent a li’l squirt.
That doesn’t surprise me. (After all, if you google enough, you’ll find people getting killed by their own lawn mower.) Half of these cases were not adults, several were incapacitated, and all were alone. One guy was stupid enough to put the thing around his neck.
With people around helping her, it was very unlikely that the snake would have killed her.
Probably at least one or two month’s of her pay, so I can see why she didn’t want to see the thing killed.
I’m no cop & my opinion isn’t valid here, but…
Heartless bastard that I am, I would have sliced that snake off her body like roast beef on sale. Yes, I’m an evil human elitist. Still, its not like I’d cook up the snake steaks that I’d carved off her on her BBQ grill after the ambulance carted her off or anything.
Python probably tastes horrible grilled anyway.
Agreed. A panicky reaction would perhaps have been understandable, but certainly wasn’t necessary. If the strength of the cop was sufficient to unwrap the snake (it was) there was no real danger.
Having Co-owned a herpetological exotic specialty store, I’ve got some experience with big snakes. First off, Burmese pythons are normally about neutral on the aggression scale. You have individuals that swing to both ends of the spectrum, and ill-treated animals are often quite aggressive. That said, most burms are fairly calm if handled regularly. If you want nasty, then look no farther then the reticulated python, or any of the arboreal species. Burms are a bucket full of rainbow cuddles compared to them. A 12 foot burm, can be quite a handful, and is NOT for the unexperienced. I imagine that snake is either a trade-in or a display animal for the store, as any responsible outlet would not have a snake of that size available to the general public as a matter of practicality. A python of that size is eating rabbits, or chickens, something your usual pet retailer is rather loathe to deal with in the confines of a display. Beyond that, at that length, that is a two-man snake. As a rule, any snake over ten feet ought to handled by either two keepers, or one very experience one.
The snake didn’t “attack”. It was either a botched feeding attempt, a territorial response, or a grumpy snake that wanted to be left alone. Burms will hiss like a tea kettle before they’ll lash out, the girl did the right thing by seeing to the animal’s welfare. At that size the bite isn’t too bad, and bleeds more than the tiny little punctures will credit. Also, if the snake had her hand it was NOT going for her throat. It was trying to keep itself from falling off her hand. On a human that’s waving you around on it’s arm, you grab for the trunk. I’ve had loads of snakes do the exact same thing.
Snakes aren’t malicious evil creatures Dammit.
Acid- Fighting ignorance.
Actually, it’s quite good. Reptile meat tastes like a lean pork, with the texture of chicken.
I can practically hear the theme music for the SNL commercial spoof:
Come to Del Stator’s, Del Stator’s, Del Stator’s Python Hutch!
If that is ignorance then for me ignorance is bliss. This animal is harmless, that animal is harmless, they’re all harmless. Until you put your hand out to say hello and they try to take it off.
I’m sorry, but if an animal attacks me or makes a threatening move toward me it has a date with the butcher or the local Korean restaurant. I gave an animal the benefit of the doubt on several occasions. The results were unpleasant for all involved. Never again.
Putting himself and the woman at increased risk to save the life of a fucking snake is stupid. That he did manage to save both the woman and the snake is certainly better than the snake being dead, but that he managed to save her without killing the snake does not mean what he did, from the perspective of trying to decide what to do, was the best course of action. Winning the lottery does not make buying lottery tickets a good idea, it makes you a lucky son of a bitch, which is what that cop is.
Nothing lucky about it. The worst he would have received is some minor punctures that heal up in about two days. People over-estimate the damage a snake’s tiny little teeth can do. If you are an idiot, and rip the snake off of you and lodge a few teeth you might manage to give yourself an infection, but that is your bad, not the animal’s. A small dog, or a bunny fer chrissakes gives you a worse bite physically.
It’s hard to see where the increased risk was. It takes a longish time for a constrictor to kill its prey. If the unwrap-the-snake ploy hadn’t worked, there would have been plenty of time to deploy Plan B.
Your average cop, or your average anyone for that matter, would have no idea how “little danger” the woman was in or how little danger they would be in if the snake turned its attention to them. I give that cop enormous credit for not putting a bullet through that snake’s head, and had he done so I wouldn’t have blamed him one bit.
So you are discounting this report as inaccurate? Bolding mine :
Is it impossible that a snake would behave that way, in your experience? This account is some kind of wild exaggeration?
When the woman requested that the cop not kill the snake, it was an indication she did not consider herself seconds from death. It’s likely the cop took this as a clue to how he would behave - sort of “Well, if you’re not panicking, I guess I don’t need to.”
I’m sure if the snake had proved itself to be the savage engine of mayhem and destruction that some seem to be imagining, the cop would have behaved differently.
No offense, but who gives a shit? It’s excellent that you’re a tough guy that don’t take no shit from animals.
See, this is why I’m not a policeman. My father was a policeman, my brother was a policeman, my nephew is a policeman. I am not a policeman. I would have taken one look at a … how long was the snake? … it doesn’t matter, I would have taken one look and started shooting. I’d have shot everything, changed clips and kept shooting. Until everything in the store was dead. Completely dead.
Who the fuck buys a goddamn South African constricting snake as a fucking pet!!! What kind of small-dicked, over-compensating asshole actually keeps a twelve-foot-long snake from the fucking Amazon as a pet!? Why are these goddamn things even in a fucking pet store?! Am I the only one asking these questions?! Snakes like this belong where God put them, not in a fucking pet store. A snake is not a pet. A shi tzu is a pet. My yellow Labrador retriever is a pet. A snake is a predator that belongs in the wild! Shoot it and kill it, kill it, killitkillitkillit!!!
That’s why I’m not a policeman.
It’s a constrictor, not something venomous. No reason to kill it if you can just unwrap it. It’s just a snake, there’s nothing scary about it.
IT’S JUST A SNAKE??? Do you have any comprehension of the utter pants-wetting, heart-stopping, brain-mushing terror most of us feel when the very word “snake” is said? There is no creature on earth more identified with unmitigated evil than a SNAKE!!! For many of us, there is nothing un-scary about any kind of snake. There are bull snakes … BULLSNAKES!!! … on my property, which is the only reason I have applied to the U.S. government for permission to own thermonuclear weapons!!
[wanders from the room mutterin to self]
Band name.