Canadian Snake Deaths Being Investigated

[saximus]

Snake escapes pet shop, kills two boys | News.com.au

Finally some intelligent input into the case is making the police treat it as a criminal investigation.

Johan Marais, who runs the African Snake Bite Institute, told The Globe and Mail that pythons seeking food "always bite first" before constricting their prey with their coils. He said it was "very puzzling" why the second child didn't wake up after the first was attacked.
"If it grabs a kid, you’re going to have more than enough time to scream. You cannot be asleep and be bitten by a python and strangled. That’s impossible. You’re going to wake up instantly," said Mr. Marais, who has written several books on snakes."

 

[longqi]

Snake escapes pet shop, kills two boys | News.com.au

Finally some intelligent input into the case is making the police treat it as a criminal investigation.

If it did fall through the ceiling as has been described it may have landed on the kids and simply constricted without ever biting
We have all experienced a similar thing if we ever moved big wild snakes
Lots of them never try to bite but will constrict your arm etc

Snake lands on two kids in one bed
Kids wake up and move with only upper bodies exposed
Snake gets scared and grabs hold with its coils
No screams because it happened too fast
No bites because it wasnt hungry
It was just holding on until it felt safe

I am not saying this is what happened
But I can easily imagine a similar scenario

 

[OldestMagician]

I'd assumed that they wouldn't have constricted unless they were going to eat? Wouldn't it be a lot more dangerous for a snake to constrict rather than to give a defensive bite?

 

[Pythoninfinite]

I think it's highly unlikely that the snake could have killed 2 kids without either of them making some sort of noise in protest. It would have to have coiled around both necks or covered both mouths at once and immediately cut off any chance of a protesting scream from both kids - how likely is that?

In my experience snakes that constrict my arm without biting initially will usually try and bite me when I unwrap them, ie. when I protest they become defensive.

Very suss to me...

But it will play beautifully into the hands of the pollies in the US who have sought to eliminate big constrictors from the US.

Jamie

 

[longqi]

I have had the good fortune to have moved some pretty big retics and burmese from under houses etc
Rarely try to bite
But never drop one over your shoulder like you can a carpet
Immensely powerful and will tail wrap very quickly while you are guiding them out

Afrocks are naturally found and hunt under ground
Many of that type of snake will simply crush/hold its prey against the wall of the hole it is hunting in
imo that could also be a natural defence tactic of these snakes

Truth wont be known until full autopsy details are released

 

[Cockney_Red]

I agree with Jamie, one kid yes, but not two