Hello, 911? Guess what I'm tired of.

TallyGirl: He isn't actually the father of the toddler who was killed...his other baby mama was the one who said he was a great dad. He's the boyfriend of the little girl's mother.

I'm adding "does not own any stupid, dangerous pets" to my list of criteria in choosing a boyfriend. (That's now number three behind 1)has a job and 2) is not a child molester)

Check.. Check.. and Check...

Oh, I'm sorry... I thought this was match.com {Unless you being serious... Then ;-) }

Pmoon: cowgirl toffee: People... you don't need pythons around that will kill somebody.

If you really want a snake that would strangle you, all you need is one that could fit around your neck.

Actually not how they do it sugar, they squeeze you much lower down so that you can't breath. Don't even wrap around a rat, one proper pinch does it.

Regardless, I still think snakes should not be allowed as pets.
Guess you could get a snake the size of a worm to bring about choking results.

Anyway... thanks for the info, sweet cheeks. :)

LineNoise: Now if thats not a classy looking family,I don't know what is:

put the shirt back on please.

DogS laughter: Sybarite: I don't even consider snakes as "pets". A pet has to be able to form some kind of reciprocal relationship with its owner. Snakes have no idea who you are.

I don't think any cold blooded animal can really be called a pet. I've had tropical fish that would take food from my fingers, but I never thought of them as pets.

I think a bit of the problem is that you are using pets as a synonym for 'companion'.

I'd easily say that almost anything can be a pet, but that very few animals can be considered companions.

Hey, this was in FLorida, where the FARK in the Florida tag?

That is why I don't own a pet that can and/or would eat me. As said previously, my cat probably would but I trust cats to make rational decisions. Like "Well, I could eat him but I could only eat so much before he went bad. But if I suck up every so often he'll feed me forever."

This is a sad story, but the problem is pets are animals in captivity. It doesn't mean they are happy or domesticated. This could happen with a variety of pets, and actually probably does.

I have a 105 pound german shepherd that was trained as a police K9. He was injured during training and retired, and we got him from the kenel through a friend.

He fell in love with my daughter and spends as much time with her as possible, including sleeping with her in her bed at night. He growls at me every morning when I come in the room wake her up. And don't even think about pretending to hit her. The next thing you will see is paws and teeth. The dog is definitely over protective.

If he went insane for just a few, he could kill her easily. Then you guys would be writing nasty messages about me.

/Daughter is now 15

Is the Florida tag in court today or something?

Rose Red: Mommy needs the kawk so it doesn't matter what's wrong with the owner of said kawk. Happens every day.

You know, I'm gonna "THIS", just because I see it every frickin' day.

Darnell, 32, told investigators he got a knife and began stabbing the snake, and it slithered away under a dresser.

Knife or sword? Large snakes and sword collections, can't have one without the other.

Wodan11: boyvoyeur: A pet has to be able to form some kind of reciprocal relationship with its owner. Snakes have no idea who you are.

99.8% of cats don't fit that description.

You obviously have never owned any cats or are unempathetic. Cats return the empathy of the owner. Dogs, meanwhile, will be social regardless of the empathy of the owner. (Unless specifically trained otherwise, of course. Hello Michael Vick.)

Back to TFA, this just pisses me off. Anybody who keeps a predator in their home along with suitable prey they they don't want to be prey is a moran.

And you've obviously never been owned by a cat which alternately hisses at you then 30 minutes later stolls by for a quick head scratch only to snap a bite on said hand, and then lie behind your head on the couch purring 2 hours later.

Empathy? Hell I've never even beat him, yelled at or kicked him LOL he came to us with the personality he has which is "I don't need you and you don't get to have me, FOOD 2x per day or next time I'll puncture the skin on your hand".

SlothB77: LineNoise: Now if thats not a classy looking family,I don't know what is:

put the shirt back on please.

His Three Wolves Howling is in the wash.

Sybarite: I don't even consider snakes as "pets". A pet has to be able to form some kind of reciprocal relationship with its owner. Snakes have no idea who you are.

Oh, lizards are nice enough, provided they're well-fed on a constant basis. But you're right: they lack the mammalian instinct to care for their own children or parents, let alone their owners. A dog will transfer its instinct for pack loyalty to a human. Snakes won't. People keep them because they're interesting and different, not because they make their owners feel loved.

LineNoise: The pictures fox news had of the guy comforting his wife were priceless...

Now if thats not a classy looking family,I don't know what is:

Not to mention:

If you have small children, don't have pets that could strangle or eat them.

I don't understand the need to keep such weird pets like snake, alligators, etc..

Who could have foreseen that having a large predator in the same house as a small, vulnerable child could lead to tragedy?

Pit bulls, pythons... it's too bad more states don't allow people to keep big cats and bears in their homes, we'd be treated to stories about parents playing tug-of-war with their carnivorous pets using their children's lifeless bodies.

I think your kid almost getting eaten by a pet is nature's way of saying "Don't breed," but that's just me.

lukelightning: His Three Wolves Howling is in the wash.

I just picked one of those up today. It's going to be a sweet casual Friday next week.

wruley: This is a sad story, but the problem is pets are animals in captivity. It doesn't mean they are happy or domesticated. This could happen with a variety of pets, and actually probably does.

I have a 105 pound german shepherd that was trained as a police K9. He was injured during training and retired, and we got him from the kenel through a friend.

He fell in love with my daughter and spends as much time with her as possible, including sleeping with her in her bed at night. He growls at me every morning when I come in the room wake her up. And don't even think about pretending to hit her. The next thing you will see is paws and teeth. The dog is definitely over protective.

If he went insane for just a few, he could kill her easily. Then you guys would be writing nasty messages about me.

/Daughter is now 15

I always find dog instinct fascinating. We have a German/Australian shepherd mix, and at night he does "rounds" every 2 hours or so. He checks every bedroom and the front entryway like a security guard would.

Had a tank full of alligator lizards one summer, was keeping them for a preschool over the summer. They will never be your friend, ever, no way, no how. I'd take any snake over a lizard.

These adults needs to be charged with murder. Period.

Our sick society has people who kill their own children. We need to charge the parents with murder otherwise this could be a way to kill an unwanted child without getting nabbed for murder.

Just get a big ass snake and let it crush them to death. The step-mom did not sound like a mourning parent at all. Maybe she put the snake in the child's crib for all we know.

The woman didn't seem to devastated by it: described him as a "great dad" "He's devastated about this," she said.
He outta be and she should as well!

I would be unable to speak at all.

What a horrible tragedy.
If only life had an undo button.

Just thinking about it makes my stomach hurt.
That poor dear child who got squeezed to death.

This is exactly why children cry at night when forced to sleep alone in their cribs.
They are scared if something were to happen they cannot protect themselves. If someone wants to force the issue of their child sleeping alone the least they could do is not keep animals in the home that can kill them!

Society sees leaving their child alone at night as the civilized thing to do. How about not bringing the wild into the home then.
Boy this makes me mad.

Although I love pets, I would NEVER have a snake in my home or any non-domesticated animal that could kill my child.

They need to send a message and nab both parents for child endangerment for the other 2 still alive as well. I say charge the guy and woman with homicide for the dead child.

I won't go as far as to say owning such a snake should be illegal
I don't like the government taking up that much power in the personal lives of others.

But the consequences of even putting another in danger needs to be so high it would not be worth owning one to most people.

That includes the snake getting out of the home should be a felony even if no one gets hurt and the owner has a permit.

The snakes living conditions should be checked once a year to renew any permits and the owner needs to pay fees to have the permit renewed that cover the cost of someone having to drive over and check on it.

OK am I the only one calling potential shenagins on this story?

Growing up I used to work in exotic pet stores and zoo's and have way more then a basic understanding of herpetology. I have worked with many Burmese pythons over the years and a lot about this story does not make sense to me. The first thing that strikes me funny about this incident is why the python would be in the babys crib, this was most likely a captive bred animal and has been raised as a "pet" for many years, its diet is mostly like either live or frozen feeder rats, and from the look of the snake in the picture it was in good health and did not appear to be underfed, so if the snake did out it would not be actively searching for food and if in fact the snake did somehow decide to climb up into a crib with a baby rather then find someplace dark to hide in the baby would be way too large for the snake to eat and the snake would know this you can see from the size of the snake that there is now way a Burmese python that size could eat a two year old child, a Burmese python is not going to try to constrict something it cant eat, if it feels threaten it will bite then try to get away. Now if for some reason the snake did in fact try to eat this baby which is the only way it would constrict it and kill, it would strike first (bite) then wrap its body around the baby, this bite would be very painful and the baby would immediately wake up and start crying and screaming and the constriction process takes a bit of time, as the snakes victim breaths out the snake wraps tighter and tighter until its prey can no longer breath this can take many minutes so someone would have had to have heard this happening, yet they say they found the baby dead in the morning and that it had been crushed by the snake.

I don't think its too far fetched to believe some hilly billy parents might have intentionally or unintentionally killed there kid and then blamed it on the pet snake.

theoriginalslash:
Pit bulls, pythons...

Ah-hah! The true culprit is the letter "P"!

This story really upset me, especially thinking about that poor child's last few moments. Waking up, then struggling, terrified, no one coming to help, then slowly suffocating ... yes the boyfriend will be 'punished' by his own conscience, but that doesn't mean he doesn't also deserve punishment for such blatant idiocy.

The toddler, Shaiunna Hare

Can't blame the snake, he thought she was a rabbit.

theorellior: lukelightning: Wrong. I learned from the movie Anaconda and its sequels that constrictors kill you with bad writing.

canadianloon: Wrong. I learned from the movie Anaconda and its sequels that constrictors kill you with bad writing.

Do we have an alt unmasked here?

exactly what I was thinking

C'mon, the snake was just giving the kid a hug.

Where's gate 666 again

sendnoodz: OK am I the only one calling potential shenagins on this story?

Growing up I used to work in exotic pet stores and zoo's and have way more then a basic understanding of herpetology. I have worked with many Burmese pythons over the years and a lot about this story does not make sense to me. The first thing that strikes me funny about this incident is why the python would be in the babys crib, this was most likely a captive bred animal and has been raised as a "pet" for many years, its diet is mostly like either live or frozen feeder rats, and from the look of the snake in the picture it was in good health and did not appear to be underfed, so if the snake did out it would not be actively searching for food and if in fact the snake did somehow decide to climb up into a crib with a baby rather then find someplace dark to hide in the baby would be way too large for the snake to eat and the snake would know this you can see from the size of the snake that there is now way a Burmese python that size could eat a two year old child, a Burmese python is not going to try to constrict something it cant eat, if it feels threaten it will bite then try to get away. Now if for some reason the snake did in fact try to eat this baby which is the only way it would constrict it and kill, it would strike first (bite) then wrap its body around the baby, this bite would be very painful and the baby would immediately wake up and start crying and screaming and the constriction process takes a bit of time, as the snakes victim breaths out the snake wraps tighter and tighter until its prey can no longer breath this can take many minutes so someone would have had to have heard this happening, yet they say they found the baby dead in the morning and that it had been crushed by the snake.

I don't think its too far fetched to believe some hilly billy parents might have intentionally or unintentionally killed there kid and then blamed it on the pet snake.

I really hate to say it but I thought the same thing.

R.A.Danny: How is this for freedom- Everyone can have all the snakes, baboons, and pit bulls they want, but they need to cut off the little pricks they are compensating for so they can't procreate.

Over the 37-year period from 1965-2001, pit bulls have been blamed for an average of 2.48 human fatalities per year.

- You are than 200 times more likely to die from taking aspirin than from a pit bull attack.

- 25 times more children a killed by faulty cribs the total number of children and adults killed by pit bulls.

- You are more than 60 times more likely to be killed by a palm tree than a pit bull.

- You are 151 times more likely to be killed by your bathtub than you are by a pit bull.

- A child is more than 800 times more likely to be killed by their adult caretaker than by a pit bull.

- Medication errors cause 7000 Deaths per year.. so you're 3000 times more likely to be killed by your medication than an APBT

- An average of 195,000 people in the USA died due to potentially preventable, in-hospital medical errors... 87000 times higher than fatalities by APBTs

- National Weather Service reports that over the last 30 years the U.S. has averaged 62 reported lightning fatalities per year.. 30 times more than those by APBTs

mfaby: DogS laughter 2009-07-02 10:08:27 AM
At least he found it before it had time to eat the poor kid.

Yeah, I thought that, too.


And just to tick-off a whole bunch of people:

'It's not the snake's fault, it's the owner's,
just like with pit bulls'

Believe it or not, some animals are dangerous and shouldn't be kept as pets.

Idiots.

Over the 37-year period from 1965-2001, pit bulls have been blamed for an average of 2.48 human fatalities per year.

- You are than 200 times more likely to die from taking aspirin than from a pit bull attack.

- 25 times more children a killed by faulty cribs the total number of children and adults killed by pit bulls.

- You are more than 60 times more likely to be killed by a palm tree than a pit bull.

- You are 151 times more likely to be killed by your bathtub than you are by a pit bull.

- A child is more than 800 times more likely to be killed by their adult caretaker than by a pit bull.

- Medication errors cause 7000 Deaths per year.. so you're 3000 times more likely to be killed by your medication than an APBT

- An average of 195,000 people in the USA died due to potentially preventable, in-hospital medical errors... 87000 times higher than fatalities by APBTs

- National Weather Service reports that over the last 30 years the U.S. has averaged 62 reported lightning fatalities per year.. 30 times more than those by APBTs

I blame Sir Mix-a-lot.

"Great" must have regional meanings different from where I live.

TallyGirl: He isn't actually the father of the toddler who was killed...his other baby mama was the one who said he was a great dad. He's the boyfriend of the little girl's mother.

I'm adding "does not own any stupid, dangerous pets" to my list of criteria in choosing a boyfriend. (That's now number three behind 1)has a job and 2) is not a child molester)

I realize this was subtle, but I'm still suprised you didn't get any bites from putting 1 over 2. Unless this counts as a bite. Whoa.

C'mon, the snake was just giving the kid a hug.

Where's gate 666 again

spacechicken170am: - 25 times more children a killed by faulty cribs the total number of children and adults killed by pit bulls.

To be sure, there are a *lot* more cribs than pit bulls.

The snake was also great. "Great" meaning "large" or "immense".

/used in the pejorative sense

lukelightning: C'mon, the snake was just giving the kid a hug.

Where's gate 666 again

Their need for hugs cause snakes to get a bad wrap.

TallyGirl: He isn't actually the father of the toddler who was killed...his other baby mama was the one who said he was a great dad. He's the boyfriend of the little girl's mother.

I'm adding "does not own any stupid, dangerous pets" to my list of criteria in choosing a boyfriend. (That's now number three behind 1)has a job and 2) is not a child molester)

I meet your criteria.

cowgirl toffee: lukelightning: C'mon, the snake was just giving the kid a hug.

Where's gate 666 again

Their need for hugs cause snakes to get a bad wrap.

excellent

The snake was also great. "Great" meaning "large" or "immense".

/used in the pejorative sense

theoriginalslash: Who could have foreseen that having a large predator in the same house as a small, vulnerable child could lead to tragedy?

Pit bulls, pythons... it's too bad more states don't allow people to keep big cats and bears in their homes, we'd be treated to stories about parents playing tug-of-war with their carnivorous pets using their children's lifeless bodies.

I think your kid almost getting eaten by a pet is nature's way of saying "Don't breed," but that's just me.

Pomeranian Kills 6-Week-Old Girl
September 21, 2001

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A small Pomeranian dog killed a 6-week-old baby while the infant's caretaker briefly left the child unattended to warm a bottle of milk, authorities said.

The relative, who was caring for the infant girl, found her head buried in the dog's mouth Saturday night, sheriff's Deputy Cruz Solis said. The girl died of head trauma at an area hospital, he said.

The baby's name was withheld because her parents were out of the country and had not been notified, Solis said.

The relative has not been charged. Animal control officers took the dog.

Pomeranians are a breed of miniature canines that have a foxlike face, pointy ears and long, fluffy hair. The deputy said Pomeranian attacks are rare.

``Obviously it doesn't take much to kill a 6-week old baby but it's not something that happens with that breed,' Solis said.

spacechicken170am: Over the 37-year period from 1965-2001, pit bulls have been blamed for an average of 2.48 human fatalities per year.

- You are than 200 times more likely to die from taking aspirin than from a pit bull attack.

- 25 times more children a killed by faulty cribs the total number of children and adults killed by pit bulls.

- You are more than 60 times more likely to be killed by a palm tree than a pit bull.

- You are 151 times more likely to be killed by your bathtub than you are by a pit bull.

- A child is more than 800 times more likely to be killed by their adult caretaker than by a pit bull.

- Medication errors cause 7000 Deaths per year.. so you're 3000 times more likely to be killed by your medication than an APBT

- An average of 195,000 people in the USA died due to potentially preventable, in-hospital medical errors... 87000 times higher than fatalities by APBTs

- National Weather Service reports that over the last 30 years the U.S. has averaged 62 reported lightning fatalities per year.. 30 times more than those by APBTs

OK, but what about the fact that they're UGLIER THAN HOMEMADE FARKING SIN?

spacechicken170am:
- You are than 200 times more likely to die from taking aspirin than from a pit bull attack.
- 25 times more children a killed by faulty cribs the total number of children and adults killed by pit bulls.
- You are more than 60 times more likely to be killed by a palm tree than a pit bull.
- You are 151 times more likely to be killed by your bathtub than you are by a pit bull.
- A child is more than 800 times more likely to be killed by their adult caretaker than by a pit bull.
- Medication errors cause 7000 Deaths per year.. so you're 3000 times more likely to be killed by your medication than an APBT
- An average of 195,000 people in the USA died due to potentially preventable, in-hospital medical errors... 87000 times higher than fatalities by APBTs
- National Weather Service reports that over the last 30 years the U.S. has averaged 62 reported lightning fatalities per year.. 30 times more than those by APBTs

Sure, deaths aren't that common.

But how many times has an aspirin mauled someone?
Faulty cribs?
Palm trees?
Bathtubs?
...

//Haven't yet seen a pit-bull owner who doesn't seem to be trying to compensate for a small penis and trying to look street tough.

cowgirl toffee: lukelightning: C'mon, the snake was just giving the kid a hug.

Where's gate 666 again

Their need for hugs cause snakes to get a bad wrap.

Well done!

sigdiamond2000: I've never met anyone who owned a large snake that didn't have some sort of major personality disorder.

This! All of the reptile owners I have met, couldn't understand dog owners talking to their dogs and expecting results.
Sometimes the gap is too wide!

spacechicken170am: - You are than 200 times more likely to die from taking aspirin than from a pit bull attack.

So? What point do you think you are making?

Emrick: What point do you think you are making?

Keep your medicine cabinet locked.

/duh

I will make judgments on what pets should and should not be kept. Burmese pythons, for a multitude of reason, should not be pets. Should be no where in the US but a zoo. The pet trade in them is why Florida is having such a huge problem now.

My college roommate had a Burmese python. We had a big wooden crate built for it, made out of 2x4's and plexi-glass for the front. When it got to be around 7-8ft in length, it would just brace itself against the back of the cage, bow the plexi-glass out and then slither on its merry way around our place.

After one too many nights coming home from the bar and having to hunt down a potentially hungry Burmese python in your closet later, he gave the snake to the zoo. Damn thing loved curling up in the clothes basket I kept in my closet.

It was fun when it was smaller and you could bring it out at parties, but when it starts tracking your every movement anytime you get near the cage in the hopes of getting fed, well, it's time to move on.