16 foot python eats dog...

Normy · 02-27-2008, 01:14 PM

This is hysterical!

Here's a link: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/custom/fringe/sfl-227python,0,1845628.story

My comment: This is an outrageous case of racial profiling. The Australian authorities just captured the first python with a dog's butt sticking out of its' mouth they could find....

N!

Mule · 02-27-2008, 01:31 PM

Interesting. Snake eats family pet in front of horrified children & you say, "hysterical." Good thing we have the kinder, gentler thing going on.

Porsche-O-Phile · Porsche-O-Phile's Garage

Very unfortunate for the family, but sometimes the reality of nature isn't very pretty.

Nathans_Dad · Nathans_Dad's Garage

One less Chihuahua...is that really a bad thing??

dd74 · 02-27-2008, 02:11 PM

I don't get the "...looked on in horror" part. Didn't anyone have the idea to save the dog?

Tobra · Tobra's Garage

The dog was dead before the snake swallowed it, they crush the life out of them then eat.

Unwrapping a 100lb snake from a dog would probably not be possible, but they say they saw the snake the day before, and did not do much of anything, which sounds pretty irresponsible to me as a parent.

aap1966 · aap1966's Garage

Do chihuahuas qualify as dogs?

craigster59 · craigster59's Garage

"The lady who was there threw some plastic chairs at the snake, but you've got to remember that this is about 50 kilograms (110 pounds) of aggressive muscle," Rose said.

Damn those Aussie gun laws...

Normy · 02-27-2008, 03:10 PM

Yo quiero!

LakeCleElum · 02-27-2008, 03:16 PM

One of my buddies in Australia has 2 pet pythons. When last there 2 yrs ago, we stopped by the house of his "snake dealer".....This guy lived in town, had a walkin basement with over 150 snakes in cages. He complained how a cobra had broken the glass window and was missing for 24 hrs. the week before......We took the python my buddy was buying out into the yard. The guy had to grab the snake as his family cat walked past.....

vash · vash's Garage

the story seems fake. or the parents are idiots. i see a snake like that, and i am calling somebody. that or i pin it to the ground with an arrow. either way, nobody's pet needs to die. as far as getting a snake to let go; take some whiskey and toss it at the face. i guess you could use the rubbing, non drinking version...but anyways, it burns the mucus membranes in the mouth, and the serpent will beat a hasty retreat. at least that is what one of my reptile books states. i have never handled a snake that big. with the smaller ones you work from the tail, and unwind from there...

Porsche-O-Phile · Porsche-O-Phile's Garage

F that. If I saw a python trying to kill someone's dog or cat or other pet, sorry - the snake dies. Machete, chainsaw, knife, whatever. You cut the thing in half and it won't be squeezin' nothin' anymore.

My second course of action would be to find where the snake came from and have a very serious "come to Jesus" talk with the owner for either (1) not keeping it well-fed or (2) letting it get out in the first place.

Like I said, nature isn't pretty sometimes. It's a shame to have to kill an animal (even a snake) for doing what comes naturally to it, but a pet is a pet. I think the right course of action would be to intervene.

JFK713 · JFK713's Garage

Like Tobra said,

the dog was long gone before the snake started to eat it, they suffocate their prey, then eat. I'd have to say the owners are not too responsible, I work with a 13' scrub python at work that I would not trust around my 85 pound German Shepherd, not to mention a little fluffy.

here's one eating a wallaby

Normy · 02-27-2008, 04:20 PM

Tastes like chicken!

Mule · 02-27-2008, 05:24 PM

You're cute as a button Normy.

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

About three wks. ago I gave away my 6' Boa, which I'd had since she was a hatchling in 1995. Obviously, I've seen her eat a lot. I've fed her gerbils, rats and even birds a few times, which I had caught in my exhaust fan (hey, free meal!). No need to kill a snake after it's killed its food. Snakes are amoral and will kill anything they think they can swallow if they're hungry and not about to shed. It's just their nature. They have no ears and can't hear you yell at it to stop. Once they've gotten a decent bite on a prey, there's absolutely no rescuing whatever it has wrapped around. Constrictors don't start swallowing until they've deteced no heartbeat in the prey for a few minutes and even then, they have to hunt around to find the head, which they always swallow first. They have very bad eyes and this can sometimes take a while. Yes, it's sad to lose a family pet. But just like the headless rabbit from yesterday's thread, animals play by very different rules and it's incredibly naive and arrogant for humans to be surprised by it. It really is a jungle out there and we're very spoiled by being on top of the food chain. Unlike dogs, which are trainable, pet snakes don't understand that their owner will bring them a few rats home from the pet store to eat every few weeks. They are born to kill and they do it very efficiently.

the · 06:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vash

the story seems fake. or the parents are idiots. .

It does seem a little odd. Esp. the part about "they knew it was coming for the dog, because they had seen it in the dog's bed before."

Like that's no big deal.

"Oh, that snake, you mean that SIXTEEN FOOTER. Yeah, we'd seen it around the house a few times before, yup, one time it was sleeping in our dog's bed. Mabel shoo'd it away with her snakin' broom, we didn't think it'd come back."

dewolf · 02-28-2008, 12:05 AM

There was elderly couple walking their Chihuahua on the beach near our home, without it's lead, and from out of nowhere came a pelican. Bye-bye doggy!!

Mule · 02-28-2008, 04:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the

It does seem a little odd. Esp. the part about "they knew it was coming for the dog, because they had seen it in the dog's bed before."

Like that's no big deal.

"Oh, that snake, you mean that SIXTEEN FOOTER. Yeah, we'd seen it around the house a few times before, yup, one time it was sleeping in our dog's bed. Mabel shoo'd it away with her snakin' broom, we didn't think it'd come back."

Good point. I'm thinking a 16 foot snake just gets more attention than that.

Porsche-O-Phile · Porsche-O-Phile's Garage

Agreed. The snake is just doing what comes naturally, but if there was still time to save an animal (especially someone's pet) - in other words, if you saw the snake going for it and starting to coil around it - wouldn't you feel compelled to intervene?

I guess even if the other animal was already dead it'd be hard to just sit by and let the thing eat someone's pet.

Snakes are fascinating - a few people I've known over the years have had 'em as pets or whatever. They're primitive, but very good at what they do - it's an evolutionary formula for survival that has worked for a long time, so little change. Kind of like sharks.