2-year-old strangled by 9-foot pet python

Wildlife officials capture the snake that killed the child. (Tom Benitez/Orlando Sentinel)

A 2-year-old girl from Oxford, Florida, was strangled to death by a 9-foot pet python.

A man woke up Wednesday morning and found his girlfriend's 2-year-old daughter being strangled by his pet Burmese python, Sumter County sheriff's officials said according to a CBS News report.

WTF is up with people having dangerous animals around kids? Can you imagine the suffering this baby went through being squeezed to death by a snake? For crying out loud!

The fatal incident occurred at about 10 a.m. at the residence, some 60 miles northwest of Orlando, when the snake apparently escaped from its cage overnight and strangled the girl, who was also bitten on the forehead, deputies said.

OMG! That must have been a gruesome sight.

Charles Darnellv stabbed the animal, which was wrapped around the girl's neck, and pulled the girl away before calling 911, deputies said.

Emergency workers could not revive the girl, whose death is now under investigation.

Darnell also owns a boa constrictor (wonderful), and the snakes have not been removed from the house, deputies said. (Snakes? Does that mean the python is still alive?)

The only way you can have such a snake is locking it in a cage--right? Then what's the fucking point? What's the point of having a large snake only to have to restrict its space to a cage that could never be large enough for a reptile meant to be out in the wild? What's the point of having such a pet? Oh...right...he gets to show it off as part of his king-of-the-jungle manhood to his buddies over beers. WTF?

The 2-year-old girl's mother, Jaren Hare, was also inside the home (left) at the time of the incident, deputies said.

I wonder if his snakes were part of the attraction...

Matt Harrison, a Critter Control employee who has worked with pythons for more than eight years, said the animals are extremely strong. (Nah...ya think?)

"A 12-foot snake is kind of like having a truck sitting on your chest. They have enough power not only to asphyxiate you, but to break bones as well," said Harrison, who added that stabbing a python would not force the animal to release its prey.

He suggested throwing alcohol down the snake's throat or running hot water over it to get it to release its prey.

Prey. Just think what would've been like to wake up to find the python half-way into devouring the baby. Jeez...

Harrison urged owners to be careful with pet pythons.

"Most (of) the time, as long as you're careful, you don't have anything to worry about, but occasionally, they can turn on their owners," he said, noting attacks tend to be a feeding response and stressing that cages should be kept secure and safe especially around children.

It is outrageous to me that such common sense should have to be pointed out from an expert.

Harrison speculated that there are more pythons in Florida than anywhere else in the U.S. (there are also more...never mind--no comment).

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, pythons are a nonnative species to Florida, although some Burmese pythons have been found in parts of Florida, CBS News reported.

An invasion of giant Burmese pythons in South Florida that made national headlines last year was "rapidly expanding" and expected to reach Central Florida, according to a University of Florida study.

It will be interesting to see if the incident will be written of as an accident, given that it was an accident, or if negligence will be found and either one or both of the adults be held responsible for what happened.

Sources: CBS News
Copyright © 2009