Pet Snake Suffocates Owner in Colorado

Associated Press ^ | Sunday, February 10, 2002

[Dog Gone]

DENVER (AP) -- A 10-foot-long Burmese python killed its owner Sunday by coiling so tightly around him that the man could not breathe, authorities said.

``He was handling the snake and showing it to someone when the snake wrapped around his chest,'' said Rory Chetelat, spokesman for the Aurora Fire Department.

The owner was a man in his 40s. His name was not immediately released.

The snake weighed 75 to 80 pounds.

Several police officers and firefighters were needed to remove the snake and free the man.

``Two police officers tried to place their batons between the snake and the man's neck so he could breathe,'' police spokeswoman Kathleen Walsh said.

The man died of asphyxiation, said Bev Petry, spokeswoman for the Medical Center of Aurora in suburban Denver.

Firefighters later herded the snake into its cage and turned it over to animal control. Walsh said an Aurora ordinance bans owning pet snakes longer than 6 feet.

[Dog Gone]

That's what you get when you break a city ordinance.

[gcruse]

The human gene pool is a tad better for it.

[RichInOC]

No! No! Bad python.

[coloradan]

They should ban snakes!! Oh wait, they already did.

[lilylangtree]

Give the snake ten lashes with a dirty noodle.

[US_MilitaryRules]

``Two police officers tried to place their batons between the snake and the man's neck so he could breathe,'' police spokeswoman Kathleen Walsh said

Whats up? Don't they carry guns any more?

[RichInOC]

The moral of this story is that just because you have one that's ten feet long doesn't mean you ought to be whipping it out and bragging about it.

[parsifal]

The owner probably cheaped out on snake food. That'll show him. parsy, the animal lover.

[A CA Guy]

Even Condit would think snake asphyxiation sex is dangerous!

[ken21]

stupid.

there was a girl suffocated by her father's pet snake in pennsylvania several months back. her mother discovered her in the living room and likewise could not remove the snake. the girl died later in the hospital.

+ then to top it off the next week or so later a guy in the los angeles area reported to the sheriff that both his pets, a dog and python were missing from his house. but the sheriffs did find the python underneath his house with a very large bulge.

[stlrocket]

Hey - This is no laughing matter!

SCARED MODEL

[Libloather]

...coiling so tightly around him that the man could not breathe...

That's GOTTA hurt...

[general_re]

The human gene pool is a tad better for it.

Too right. And to think, there are people out there denying the existence of natural selection...

[Jonathon Spectre]

I can't fathom the mindset of someone who would voluntarily keep IN THEIR OWN HOME something capable of killing and eating them. Better luck next time, snake snack.

[Cold Heat]

A warm shower works every time! Been there done that.

[RonDog]

Why couldn't the cops just BLAST the snake with their service revolvers?

[trussell]

I like snakes myself, but would never have one as a pet, especially while I have children in the home.

[Rain-maker]

"My Momma always told me the only good snake is one fried in butter," Gump.

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

On the news here in Denver his new/former live-in girlfriend said it was coiled around his neck. Shoot the snake, shoot the snake charmer.

[Squantos]

Yeah that's what I'm thinking........the man is dying and they pry on his neck with a PR24 but when that doesn't work they just measure the snake and write the guy a ticket versus SHOOTING the SNAKE !!

Comedy of errors by all involved...........Stay Safe !