Python kills children in New Brunswick

[Boges]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/large-snake-kills-two-children-in-new-brunswick/article13596879/

Two young boys in northern New Brunswick are dead after a python, believed to have escaped from its cage at an exotic animal store, slithered through ventilation ducts into an upstairs apartment and killed them some time during the night, according to Campbellton, N.B., RCMP.

What began as a summer sleepover at a friends apartment turned tragic as police arrived shortly after 6:30 a.m. to find the boys, five and seven years old, dead. It is believed they were brothers, but RCMP would not confirm this. Some residents said the boys were killed as they were sleeping.

Not a big government regulation guy but if you feel your life is complete by owning an apex predator you're a tool; it should be illegal. We keep domesticated dogs because they are social animals that we have tamed and made part of our families. Not so with giant snakes.

Pythons have become the top predator in Florida because idiots buy them, can't afford keeping an animal that large then let it loose in the wild.

The practice of owning exotic predators in places other than zoos should be effectively banned IMHO.

Edited August 6, 2013 by Boges

[The_Squid]

very, very sad....

[Guest]

Listening to the BBC this morning an expert on these snakes said he was very sceptical about the story. I wonder if there is more to it than we know at the moment.

Agree with the OP about a ban on keeping exotic pets.

[Guest American Woman]

Listening to the BBC this morning an expert on these snakes said he was very sceptical about the story. I wonder if there is more to it than we know at the moment.

Agree with the OP about a ban on keeping exotic pets.

Why was he skeptical about the story? The police say the Boa Constrictor Python has been found.

Edited August 6, 2013 by American Woman

[Boges]

Seems like there are many other ways to cover up the murder 2 children then say a snake did it.

You'd think when an autopsy is done it would be either consistent with death from a python or not.

But who knows, they still should be illegal.

Edited August 6, 2013 by Boges

[Guest American Woman]

Seems like there are many other ways to cover up the murder 2 children then say a snake did it.

You'd think when an autopsy is done it would be either consistent with death from a python or not.

But who knows, they still should be illegal.

As I said, the escaped Boa Constrictor Python was found, so the "escaped snake" isn't made up. It's a terrible tragedy, but dogs kill more people than snakes do.

Edited August 6, 2013 by American Woman

[Boges]

As I said, the escaped Boa Constrictor was found, so the "escaped snake" isn't made up. It's a terrible tragedy, but dogs kill more people than snakes do.

Because exponentially more people have dogs than giant deadly snakes.

It's like that argument that more Labs bite people than Pit Bulls. Well Labs are the AKC's number one breed. When a Lab or a Poodle bite you, you may need stitches, when a Pit Bull bites you, you may need a new arm or you're loved ones will be planning a funeral.

Edited August 6, 2013 by Boges

[Guest American Woman]

Because exponentially more people have dogs then giant deadly snakes.

It's like that argument that more Labs bite people than Pitt Bulls. Well Labs are the AKC's number one breed. When a Lab or a Poodle bite you, you may need stitches, when a Pitt Bull bites you, you may need a new arm or you're loved ones will be planning a funeral.

I was taking the 'more dogs' criteria into consideration when I made my comment. According to the Humane Society, seventeen people have died from large constrictor snake related incidents in the United States since 1978. There were 31 fatal dog attacks in the United States in 2011, according to DogsBite.org.

Edited August 6, 2013 by American Woman

[Boges]

How many people own Boa Constrictors?

Are you also taking into consideration the ecological problem non-native pythons are causing in the wild because people can no longer care for them so they release them into the wild.

http://www.wuft.org/news/2013/05/02/python-challenge/

My OP wasn't focusing on snakes solely but all exotic animals that are apex predators in the wild.

I would compare dog bit statistics to car accidents. There are so many dogs and so many drivers that statistically it's a more likely way to die.

You're far more likely to die from a dog bite than from a terrorist attack, does that mean terrorism shouldn't be taken seriously?

Edited August 6, 2013 by Boges

[Guest]

Why was he skeptical about the story? The police say the Boa Constrictor Python has been found.

He didn't think the behavior fit what an African Rock Python would normally do. They typically only constrict to eat, and he couldn't understand why it would constrict two victims.

[Boges]

He didn't think the behavior fit what an African Rock Python would normally do. They typically only constrict to eat, and he couldn't understand why it would constrict two victims.

The theory was that it was afraid. However I'm unsure what's fear inducing about sleeping children.

[Guest American Woman]

He didn't think the behavior fit what an African Rock Python would normally do. They typically only constrict to eat, and he couldn't understand why it would constrict two victims.

There was an escaped snake, though, so how would anyone know that? - to blame a couple of murders on a snake? They were at a sleepover at a friend's house, apparently. It is bizarre, to say the least.

Edited to add:

While declining to elaborate further before the autopsies, Constable Julie Rogers-Marsh said that a preliminary investigation by police had led officers to believe that Mr Savoie's theory was correct. “It's believed the two boys were strangled by the snake,” she said.

Some experts speculated that the snake in Canada might have picked up a scent of food near the boys.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/canada/10224548/Snake-escaped-from-pet-shop-strangles-two-young-boys-to-death-in-Canada.html

Edited August 6, 2013 by American Woman

[Guest American Woman]

How many people own Boa Constrictors?

I've found some statistics, and it appears as if you're right - that pet snakes kill more often than pet dogs, considering the numbers.

[cybercoma]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/large-snake-kills-two-children-in-new-brunswick/article13596879/

Not a big government regulation guy but if you feel your life is complete by owning an apex predator you're a tool and it should be illegal.

The family didn't own the snake. They lived above a pet store that kept the snake. This was a tragic accident. Period. There's nothing wrong with responsible owners keeping these kinds of snakes.

[Guest American Woman]

The family didn't own the snake. They lived above a pet store that kept the snake. This was a tragic accident. Period. There's nothing wrong with responsible owners keeping these kinds of snakes.

The man whose house the boys were sleeping at owns the pet shop that the snake escaped from.

Edited August 6, 2013 by American Woman

[Boges]

The fact that the snake used the HVAC to get into the apartment shows that these animals aren't your typical pets.

[cybercoma]

Why was he skeptical about the story? The police say the Boa Constrictor Python has been found.

Shouldn't you reserve judgment until a full and detailed investigation is done? You know, kind of like the bus shooting situation?

[cybercoma]

The fact that the snake used the HVAC to get into the apartment shows that these animals aren't your typical pets.

I'm not quite sure I see your point. The snake used HVAC as a path into the apartment; therefore, they shouldn't be pets. There's an implied premise missing that I don't quite understand.

[cybercoma]

The man whose house the boys were sleeping at owns the pet shop that the snake escaped from.

Ok. So we're going to split hairs here. The family didn't own the snake as a pet and if you want to be extra pedantic, the snake was probably owned by the business which is separate from the family themselves. When someone says the family owned the snake, it makes it sound like they were keeping it as their own pet. That was not the case here.

[Guest American Woman]

Shouldn't you reserve judgment until a full and detailed investigation is done? You know, kind of like the bus shooting situation?

I haven't made any judgments. I was simply curious as to why the expert was skeptical in light of the fact that the snake had been found, and bcsapper provided me with an answer.

Ok. So we're going to split hairs here. The family didn't own the snake as a pet and if you want to be extra pedantic, the snake was probably owned by the business which is separate from the family themselves. When someone says the family owned the snake, it makes it sound like they were keeping it as their own pet. That was not the case here.

Not splitting hairs - saying it the way it is. The snake wasn't for sale - it was a pet of the man whose house the boys were sleeping at. He owned it for ten years.

[cybercoma]

Yet he kept it in the pet shop, not in their home. The ownership doesn't matter anyway. There's no reason to believe people can't keep these pets responsibly.

Edited August 6, 2013 by cybercoma

[Guest American Woman]

The ownership doesn't matter anyway.

Yet you're the one who brought it up .....

[Boges]

Yet he kept it in the pet shop, not in their home. The ownership doesn't matter anyway. There's no reason to believe people can't keep these pets responsibly.

I'm sure many can but keeping wild animals is fraught with problems, they aren't as easily tamed as dogs, cats or horses who have human companionship bred into them.

See the problems pythons have caused in Florida because of owners who aren't responsible.

Edited August 6, 2013 by Boges

[Guest American Woman]

I'm sure many can but keeping wild animals is fraught with problems, they aren't as easily tamed as dogs, cats or horses who have human companionship bred into them.

See the problems pythons have caused in Florida because of owners who aren't responsible.

I've been looking into it a bit, and it does create more of a problem than I realized. Furthermore, who's to say at this point that this man wasn't a responsible pet owner? Perhaps he was, and the snake managed to escape anyway.

[GostHacked]

I am with the apex predator thing. Same reason we don't have other large wild animals living with us in the city. You cannot tell a snake to sit or do tricks. Well neither does my cat, but at least she won't strangle me in my sleep. No reason to keep an large deadly exotic snake as a pet. There are snakes you can keep as pets that won't kill you, but I guess it could be the 'wow' factor.