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Officials: World's Largest Snake Caught - Snake Reportedly Eats 3 Or 4 Dogs A MonthDecember 29, 2003 JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Indonesian villagers claim to have captured a python that is almost 49.21 feet long and weighs nearly 992.07 pounds, an official said Monday. If confirmed, it would be the largest snake ever kept in captivity. Hundreds of people have flocked to see the snake at a primitive zoo in Curugsewu village on the country's main island of Java, Republika reported. It splashed two large pictures of the reptile across its back page. Local government official Rachmat said the reticulated python...

A primitive zoo in Indonesia is holding a 49-foot-python captured in a forest in Sumatra, a report said. If its vital statistics are confirmed, the python could be the world's longest snake. The reptile measures 14.85 metres (49 feet) and weighs in at 447 kilograms (983 pounds), the Suara Merdeka regional newspaper reported Monday. The serpent, which staff in the small recreation park have christened Kembang Wangi or Frangrant Flower, was found in a forest in Jambi on Sumatra island and was purchased from its captor before being put on show and could be the largest snake found in nearly...

BANGKOK (AFP) - A Thai man remained unconscious in hospital after being nearly asphyxiated by a four-metre python he was transporting on a motorbike for release in a national park, police said. Emergency workers called to a roadside Tuesday in Prachinburi province, 136 kilometres (84 miles) east of Bangkok, were shocked to discover the python tightly coiled around victim Samrauy Phonlerk, a local villager. More than a dozen people beat the snake with sticks for over 20 minutes before the 20-kilo (44-pound) reptile released its death grip and was eventually subdued, local police Lieutenant Chumphol Buachum told AFP. Samrauy, 43,...

<p>An Indianapolis mother is suing Uncle Bill's Pet Center after a 10-foot-long Burmese python bit her son.</p> <p>Robin Post says her son Travis was also strangled by the snake in the May 2002 incident at the store, 4829 W. 38th St.</p>

Thoughts for Father's Day: ''A Father's Duty'' Posted by Doc Farmer Wednesday, June 11, 2003 I'm fortunate that I'm the father of two wonderful, beautiful and intelligent children. I'm not so fortunate about my ex-wife, of course, but that's another matter entirely. My kids live in England with their mother, and I don't get to see them nearly as much as I'd like, mainly due to my work and my location. But be that as it may, as any father I try to be involved in their lives as much as I can be, and give them the benefit of...

Thoughts for Father's Day: ''A Father's Duty'' Posted by Doc Farmer Wednesday, June 11, 2003 I'm fortunate that I'm the father of two wonderful, beautiful and intelligent children. I'm not so fortunate about my ex-wife, of course, but that's another matter entirely. My kids live in England with their mother, and I don't get to see them nearly as much as I'd like, mainly due to my work and my location. But be that as it may, as any father I try to be involved in their lives as much as I can be, and give them the benefit of...

Tue Apr 1, 6:22 AM ET A Green Tree Python sleeps during the early hours in Munich's Hellabrunn Zoo, April 1, 2003. When resting, Green Tree Pythons loop saddle-fashion over a branch, anchoring themselves with their prehensile tail and cradling their head in the middle of their coils. REUTERS/Alexandra Winkler

A 6 meter African rock python swallowed a 10 year old boy near Durban, the first recorded 'man eating' incident for the species.For three hours other children hid up mango trees near the township of Lamontville, too terrified to flee, as the snake first trapped the young boy and squeezed the life out of him before consuming him whole.Police and snake expers found no trace of the child, or his clothing, except for a trail of flattened grass and a trail leading down to a nearby stream.The incident last week prompted wide spread panic among the 50,000 residents of the...

A young South African boy is missing, his friends say he was swallowed by an African rock python, and a snake expert says he believes them. "I've dealt with a few cases like this and I always dispel them as absolute rubbish. But in my opinion this one did happen," snake park owner Craig Smith told AFP yesterday. He said a group of boys, aged between five and eight, were playing in a mango plantation in the eastern harbour city of Durban at the weekend. One of the boys later ran home and told his mother his friend had been...

WAILUKU >> State officials are to resume a search for a snake, believed to be either a boa constrictor or a python, in the Awalau Street area in rural Haiku, Maui. The search began Tuesday and continued yesterday, after Haiku resident Antonio Olivera reported a snake slithering across his boots while he was cutting cane grass about two weeks ago. "It was dark green with brown patches, about 3 inches in diameter," Olivera said. He told searchers the snake was 3 to 4 feet long. Neighborhood homeowners thought they could catch the snake, not realizing the difficulty and seriousness of...