Posted on 12/31/2006 1:22:47 PM PST by george76
A 14-foot python bit its handler and tried to drag her into its cage during a show at an aquarium, and wouldn't release the woman until a police officer zapped the reptile with a stun gun.
Alison Cobianchi, 18, was taking Chloe, a Burmese python, out of her cage for the daily snake presentation Saturday at the Tarpon Springs Aquarium when the snake wrapped itself around her arm and waist.
Visitors and aquarium employees kept the nonvenomous snake from pulling Cobianchi into the cage, but couldn't make it release its grip.
Police were called to help. "We either had to Taser it or we would have had to kill it," police Sgt. Allen MacKenzie said.
Cobianchi suffered puncture wounds on her wrist.
"It was definitely the most scary and painful thing that has ever happened to me," she said. "I knew I wasn't going to die, but I was worried I wouldn't get my hand back."
The snake was not seriously hurt by the stun gun.
Aquarium owner Scott Conger said Chloe bit him once while he was feeding her, but Cobianchi is the first employee seriously injured. He said the snake show was canceled indefinitely.
"She was my favorite animal that we had," Cobianchi said of Chloe. "Not anymore."
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is investigating.
Yes, they bite to capture the prey before wrapping around it. You wouldn't want dinner to start chewing or clawing before it suffocates, afterall...
Pythons are not venomous.They are constrictors.
How much did you warm the rats? Pythons have an additional "sight" using those pits to detect heat. If your face was warmer than the rat, your face would really stand out in the python's "vision." In that case, the python might think that you were the rat that he was smelling.
Bill
I understand your sentiment, but I disagree with having the government define "unnecessary." We may not like everything that we see people do with their kids, but if the kids belong to someone else, it's none of our business.
YES AND NO.
But I don't like government getting involved either.
Hell, I live in Tarpon Springs, Leni, and I didn't know we gots a snake-aquarium!
I just whack the snakes in the back yard!..............FRegards
I still handle snakes with no problem, but the biggest in my care nowdays is a common boa.
Yep, my brother-in-law came over. The wife, too.
(.....just kiddin')
Happy New Year!
Leni
How big are your boas? I was afraid that I'd have problems with caging and handling if they hit ten feet, so I stayed away from boas. My biggest are ball pythons. I also have a CalKing. I'm getting some thayeri kings. They will be small, but they are pretty animals.
I'm not sure how big the old girl is. I believe she was 11 or 12 feet the last time we were able to stretch her out. She's become a two person snake simply because of her weight and strength. But she's not aggressive; most boas are pretty laid back.
If I weren't so busy, I'd volunteer at a local park where they have a 12-foot burmese and a boa. Volunteering there would give me a chance to work with the big guys without having to own one myself and without having to find someone to be my partner when I needed to work with one.
I do not know much about snakes except the ones the Army taught us to beware of,but his face became very swollen just the same.I was amazed how wide it's mouth opened for it's size[three ft.long]They were both gone the next day though!!I slept much better after that.
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