Post by cenydd on Aug 6, 2013 17:41:10 GMT
Reptile experts are baffled by a python attack in an apartment in New Brunswick that left two young boys dead in New Brunswick, with autopsies scheduled for today that hope to shed light into the incident that has led to cautions about exotic pets.
Noah Barthe, 5, and Connor Barthe, 7, were killed by the large African rock python while visiting an apartment upstairs from Reptile Ocean in Campbellton on Monday morning, RCMP say. They were found dead Monday morning.
Steven Benteau, a spokesman for the Department of Natural Resources, told CBC News on Tuesday that African rock pythons are not permitted under the province's Exotic Wildlife Regulation.
A criminal investigation has been launched.
Noah Barthe, 5, and Connor Barthe, 7, were killed by the large African rock python while visiting an apartment upstairs from Reptile Ocean in Campbellton on Monday morning, RCMP say. They were found dead Monday morning.
Steven Benteau, a spokesman for the Department of Natural Resources, told CBC News on Tuesday that African rock pythons are not permitted under the province's Exotic Wildlife Regulation.
A criminal investigation has been launched.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2013/08/05/f-snake-python-sales-ownership-risks.html
As a snake owner myself (not of anything on that scale, though!), I know how strong they can be relatively (and that was a big one), and how good they are at escaping. They might think in a completely different way from us mammals, but that certainly doesn't make them stupid. Why this one did what it did I don't know - my initial thought was that, rather than 'constricting' the boys as has been suggested, perhaps it just suffocated them by laying on top of them for warmth (since it doesn't sound like it actually tried to eat them at all), but it doesn't sound like that is the case. Hard to get a full picture of what has happened, though - I'm sure more details will emerge. In any event, a snake like that just should not be kept in the proximity of young children at all except for in the most absolutely secure enclosure (which clearly this one wasn't in), and any pet store keeping or selling such things (not that should be many of those - only real specialists with really good equipment and storage anyway) should be 'sealed' in a way that if anything does escape its enclosure somehow, it can't escape the shop itself.
Sounds unfortunately at the moment like someone hasn't been taking the potential danger of such a large and powerful snake as seriously as they need to, and with tragic consequences. They are magnificent creatures, but really need to be given full respect for what they are capable of doing.