Posted on 08/06/2013 6:39:02 AM PDT by Daffynition
(CNN) -- Police in Canada are looking into the deaths of two young boys who appear to have been strangled by a python.
The boys, ages 5 and 7, were found dead Monday morning at an apartment in Campbellton, New Brunswick. They had been sleeping over at a friend's apartment above a reptile store, according to a statement from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Early indications suggest that a snake from the store escaped its enclosure, got into the ventilation system, then the apartment, and strangled the two boys, the statement said.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
The store owner should be charged with 2nd Degree Murder - might not have premeditation - but the neglect to allow such an animal out needs to be addressed. Proper enclosures and checks in place to prevent this stuff is what is needed - and if he wants to sell such dangerous animals - accountability needs to be in place!
I don’t think pythons are native to Canada.
It’s weird...the python is an apex predator...it kills for food. Yet they, at least one, wasn’t consumed.The two boys were sleeping..and not a threat. I wonder, since they were staying over at a friends’ house, if they might have been sleeping next to each other..young kids often do that, and the snake mistook them for ONE creature. Given it’s size, it could easily coil around both of them..but then it found them impossible to consume...
Having an African rock python as a pet is tantamount to having a Great White shark or a Nile crocodile as a pet. It is beyond insanity.
You know, if the aliens in those Alien movies were real, we would have some Americans trying to keep them as pets.
“Fluffy ate your family? Well, they better not give him indigestion. Have you seen my new tattoo?”
One that was apparently in a poorly constructed building. Another report states that when the father of the boy's friend got up at 6am to check on the boys sleeping in the living room, he saw a hole in the ceiling, and turned on the lights, finding the horrible scene. The ventilation grill which was on the floor was later handed over to authorities, as the snake apparently fell through the ceiling into the living room, where the boys tended to make fort like structures out of mattresses and couch cushions. The perfect lair to escape to for a snake looking for security.
Snakes are essentially big long muscles, and those muscles can both constrict and expand. Many snake owners are amazed at how much force their snakes can apply to the tops of enclosures. A snake that size, it would take considerable construction to guarantee that the snake would not escape, something that is rarely done even in zoos.
I’m not sure what to think of this story. It’s possible it happened just as the article says, if the boys were asleep together in the same bed. Then again, if the snake crashed through the ceiling in the middle of the night, wouldn’t the noise wake up the boys, as well as others in the apartment? Didn’t any adults in the apartment investigate what caused the noise? Once awake, wouldn’t the boys have cried out for help? The autopsies should confirm that the boys have (or do not have) internal injuries consistent with the kind you would have if you were crushed by a python. If there was foul play, and the snake was planted there to cover up a double murder, that shouldn’t be too difficult to determine.
get real, I think he had that dam snake in the room all along and is a nutty lying fool
what kind of parents allow their little kids to have “sleepovers” at the home of a “friend” who keeps 100 pound snakes as pets ........ in his room
Precisely! - neither are Bengal tigers - but if someone had one - and I’m sure you guys do up there - it is caged properly...I think if such were let lose in the unpopulated areas of Canada - they would thrive!
My points that the shop owner had a responsibility to cage that snake up to where it didn’t get out...those boys - i can only image that they woke up and realized what was happening can could speak because of lack of air right before blacking out...geez!
go find your big boy pants....the post was a tension breaker only......
I agree. Regardless of how this happened, this is truly tragic.
Dreadful. RIP.
I guess what I was trying to say was this: If you have a freaking python in CANADA where they are not native, you better secure it. Failure to do so can produce tragic results.
As for Tigers, the only ones I want to see in the wild are the ones that play on that enclosed field on Brush Street in Detroit. They are a lot of fun to watch, this year, and they haven't eaten anybody yet.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.