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Old 08-06-2013, 10:21 AM
 
Location: Somewhere flat in Mississippi
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Freakish but tragic.

‘Vicious’ python kills two sleeping children, aged 5 and 7, after escaping from N.B. pet store | National Post
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Old 08-06-2013, 01:59 PM
 
Location: Stasis
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Sad news and odd that a python would/could escape it's enclosure on the ground floor, make it's way to the ceiling (drop ceiling?) of the 2nd floor, break and fall through the ceiling and then kill 2 children and not attempt to eat either. AFAIK snakes don't go on killing sprees.
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Old 08-06-2013, 02:04 PM
 
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How much do you want to bet a human actually killed them? Very sad story, whatever the truth is.
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Old 08-06-2013, 02:20 PM
 
Location: Stasis
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Google Streetview shows a "Pawfection Grooming" store downstairs and a "Reptile Ocean" entrance upstairs. Another article says the enclosure was floor to ceiling against a vent. Enough of my speculating, will wait for facts. Poor kids, poor parents.

https://www.google.com/maps?ll=47.98...g=opt&t=m&z=11
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Old 08-07-2013, 12:28 AM
 
Location: Toronto
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Quote:
Originally Posted by katzpaw View Post
Sad news and odd that a python would/could escape it's enclosure on the ground floor, make it's way to the ceiling (drop ceiling?) of the 2nd floor, break and fall through the ceiling and then kill 2 children and not attempt to eat either. AFAIK snakes don't go on killing sprees.
This is so true, and left me puzzled. Snakes don't kill for fun. They kill when they're hungry. It might have been that the snake did kill them to eat, but was just not big enough to swallow them. I can't imagine a python in a pet store to be any longer than about 6', which wouldn't be big enough to eat even a small child.

Very tragic story. I always think about the many people across NA who own entire collections of "hots" (venomous snakes), and/or large constrictors in apartment complexes, duplexes, townhouses, or any urban neighbourhood. Accidents like this are all too common in the US, where the owning of venomous snakes is largely unregulated and many people keep them as a hobby. Perhaps some of you remember that case in Toronto a few years ago when a tenant in a small apartment building had two of his venomous snakes escape (1 was an Indian Cobra). Other tenants in the building had encounters with it, animal control was called in, then the zoo, and when the snakes could not be located, the residents were forced by Public Health to vacate the premises on their own dime. It took months before they were able to move back (I think most of them didn't go back), and I don't believe the snakes were ever found.

But yes, this case in NB is extremely tragic. I feel awful for the boys and their family. And for the pet shop owner. You know they will traumatized by this for ever, and surely will lose their business and reputation.
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Old 08-07-2013, 02:39 PM
 
Location: Canada
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I personaly don't believe the snake escaped from the store to travel trough the ceilling ...., i do think that the animal was living in the apartment.
some falks there think it's not anough stupid and irresponsable to let animals like that arround vulnerable humans , they euthanized the snake , for what? for being a python snake . it's not the snake who asked to be brought from african jungle to an apartment in New Brunswick ,euthanizing the animal for that is like you euthanize a cat for running after a ping pong ball, it's an instinct. he acted like any python would act by instinct in the same circumstances of hunger and hunt .
if you want to play the Crocodile Dundee do ot on your own risk , don't put the lifes of innocent children at risk .
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Old 08-07-2013, 03:18 PM
 
Location: Gatineau, Québec
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The information that is starting to filter is starting to point to a possible case of gross negligence for several reasons.

The snake lived in the apartment with the store's owner and at least one child (owner's son). The deceased boys were visiting their little friend for a sleepover.

The snake was in a glassed in cage that went all the way up to the ceiling but it appears somehow he got through the ceiling and then up through the air ducts into the living room where the ceiling collapsed under its weight and he got access to the boys.

We can question the wisdom of having this type of animal in a residence with your own child, and also the wisdom of allowing your kids to a sleepover in an apartment where a dangerous animal like this is kept.

And of course one has to wonder how a ceiling in a small apartment can collapse in the middle of the night under the weight of a huge snake, and that the adult present would not hear it and arrive within seconds to see what was going on. (The snake obviously did not kill both boys in a span of 5-10 seconds.)
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Old 08-07-2013, 06:32 PM
 
Location: Stasis
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The boys were at a farm earlier in the day playing with goats, sheep & llamas. It's possible the snake was attracted and fooled by the animal smells still on them.
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Old 08-08-2013, 08:57 AM
 
Location: Toronto
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If the snake was big enough, it would have seen the boys as food. But it would have had to be at least 10'+. Not normally the size of a snake sold in a pet store. However, it is the size of snake that would be kept as a pet for several years. So I believe that maybe it was the pet store owner's pet.

As I mentioned before, this is not that uncommon south of the border here and especially the US. Many amateur snake keepers have some of the most venomous snakes under their care, usually in a spare bedroom, often in a house with small children. I've seen people who have dozens of the most venomous snakes on Earth in their collections. Mambas, Taipans, Lancehead Vipers, Gaboon Vipers, Cobras, and many others.

I'm actually surprised accidents like this don't happen more often considering the number of people in Canada who also engage in this stupid hobby. I love snakes - especially the venomous ones - but I prefer seeing them in a zoo. I would never put myself or family at risk by owning such a dangerous pet, like a large python.

BTW, most pythons come from Southeast Asia, or Africa. Burmese are particularly popular among pet owners. They're the ones that have been let loose in the Florida swamp and eaten a large track through the Everglades. This happened because of people buying them when they were babies, not realizing they easily grow to 15'. Long enough to easily kill an adult human. Frozen mice don't satiate an adult python, so hapless owners who can't afford the food bill, or wrangle such a large snake just release them. Since Florida is similar to their natural habitat, they've thrived there and become a top predator. They can even take on a fully-grown gator, though I don't think they could swallow it. However, they do kill lots of small gators, leading to an inevitable population crash in the near future.

The whole issue is much bigger than we in Canada realize, but spend some time on the net browsing and you will find hundreds of Canadians keeping dangerous snakes at home without permission or license. Perhaps now that this has happened, the average Canadian will learn more about the illegal keeping of dangerous exotic pets.
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Old 08-08-2013, 09:16 AM
 
Location: Gatineau, Québec
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This happened about an hour and a half from where I live a few years ago:
Police seek lion on the loose near Quebec town | Toronto Star

The lion was located fairly quickly and no one was hurt. I believe he is now living at the zoo in Granby.
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