Tales from darkest Africa 3 - ARP swallows boy

[bigred]

Sounds like a tabloid, right? But a story broke yesterday about a ARP attacking a young boy, taking two hours to consrict and swallow, and then lumbering to the river to float away with its meal.
Rumours of big Rocks taking rural kids have been around for years , but this is the first time that the cops seem to have authenticated the attack.
Not a good year for snake/human relations in South Africa. remeber the Cape Cobra biting and killing that teenage girl about 2 months ago?
Here is the article in full : if you want follow the story, you can find it on www.news24.co.za

Oh- I have a ARP hatchling on order for February

"Python swallows child

Durban - The search for a child reportedly eaten by a python was called off after three police dogs failed to find any sign of the snake or boy on Wednesday. Durban's Lamontville police were told on Monday that the boy, who was about seven years old, was constricted and then swallowed by the python the day before. Police were sceptical because no child was reported missing, but snake experts, although puzzled, are in no doubt that it happened.

Fitzsimons Snake Park co-owner Craig Smith said he was convinced after speaking to one of the children who witnessed the gruesome incident.

"Such stories are fairly common, but you can quickly determine the truth with a few well-chosen questions. I questioned one of the kids who witnessed the incident, and his answers were dead accurate," he said.

Smith said there was definite evidence of an adult African Rock Python measuring between five and six metres. The grass in the area where the attack took place was flattened, and a clear trail was marked in more flattened grass. These indicate the route taken by the snake to a stream, where belly markings were found on the bank.

The child was in a group of about eight who were picking mangoes when he was attacked. While the other children climbed the tree to pick the mangoes, the seven-year-old remained on the ground and placed those thrown down to him into a pile. The python struck when the boy ventured into tall grass to fetch mangoes that had rolled there.

The remaining children watched in horror as the python coiled itself around their friend, constricted him and swallowed him head first. They remained in the tree for the two hours it took the python to completely swallow him.

Smith joined the police in a four-hour search for the python, but without success. He said the snake would have used the stream for transport, as the water would have made its body buoyant, but there is no sign of where it left the water.

Inspector Jack Haskins and his dog Orca of the Pietermaritzburg Dog Unit were joined by colleagues from Empangeni and Durban in an extensive search of the area.

"We searched 300 m to 400 m down the stream, and then up the other side. It was really hard going the brush is really thick and we were on our hands and knees in places," said Haskins.

Smith said he is puzzled by the incident because pythons will not ordinarily attack humans. "The smell of humans is a danger smell to the python, so it would have to be extremely hungry to take on a human," he said. The African Rock Python is a protected species and may not be destroyed. "

[img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]
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[bensnacks]

Well summer times coming to the south again Bigred,
No doubt we will probably hear a few more stories about venomous bites
and pythons eating children or the elderly.
Although in Oz we don't have any boids to match that ARP's effort.


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[Ed_r]

ben you guys got the scrub pythons, they get quite large, not sure about human eating capabilities but I have seen pics of some with some huge prey in their gut. A small child doesn't seem out of the question.

I dont know where they guy is coming from saying ARPs wont attack a human? There are allot of reports of Rocks attacking humans, maybe not killing them but many attack.
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[bigred]

ed, he may be trying to stop an all-out witch-hunt, where dozens of innocent ARP's and other snakes will be killed just because they are large snakes.
The African people fear snakes, and most will kill on sight.
Now with a kid missing, tensions will be running high, and all big rocks in the area will be in danger, so I think he is just trying to play down this as a isolated incident.
WE are all well aware of the rock's propensity for sinking their teeth into flesh, but the general public and hovering media aren't.
If they get wind of it , KILLER SNAKE headlines, and a lot of innocent snakes will be killed.
Unfortunate incident, but hey, if you live near large hungry consrtictors whose naturalm habitat and food supply is rapidly diminishing ......
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[pincess_wy]

<<Now with a kid missing, tensions will be running high, and all big rocks in the area will be in danger, so I think he is just trying to play down this as a isolated incident. >>

This would be a change from the average news columnist..... wouldn't it be nice if they wrote this way more often?
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[deadboy]

i think thats just stupid. Why would you kill all the big rocks in the area. If they foudn the rock that ate the child they would be able to tell by the huige lump plus this is one of the few cases is that area probly where a human was attacked. Its gonna happen. Big snakes should be endangered just because we dont see enought HUGE snakes around. i understand that its a frenzy so they want to kill all the big snakes because of a child but hey, its nature. I think anything over 20 feet should be endangered. just my 2 pennies.
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[storm]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font class="pn-sub">Quote:</font><HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT class="pn-sub"><BLOCKQUOTE>i think thats just stupid. Why would you kill all the big rocks in the area</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR></TD></TR></TABLE>
Yeah, it is stupid, but when faced with fear for one's child, being concerned that if it happened once it could happen again (however unlikely)... Intelligence can drop sharply in the face of strong emotion. I think it's horrible that the ARPs in the area may be in real danger of being hunted down because of this, but that is the reality of humans in groups when faced with a potential threat, especially if children are involved.
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[bensnacks]

The scrubbies, and even large olives maybe, are capable of swallowing a small child, Ed, ...??
I don't know of any reports of this happening since european colonisation.

[nomadbean]

Hypothetically speaking most of the larger snakes could eat a child, the reason they don't is they find other food most of the time. I would imagine the reason we don't see it more often is that snakes that are pets are usually separate from kids and if one constricts a child the adults would most likely get the snake off before consumption. I read a story a while back about a small girl constricted to death by her parents adult bcc. They did not say if the snkae attempted to eat her or not, but it had escaped the cage and the little girl was 2 yrs old and playing when the snake attacked her. Her mother came in to see the snake wrapped around her and killed the snake, but her daughter was dead already (saw it on a google search a month or so ago). So, it is just a matter of effort on the snakes part I think as to eat humans or not.
My bci is thinking of ways to kill me as we speak [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] ...j/k, I hope. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]
Trina
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	Boa Constrictor Constrictor Red Tail Boa Constrictor (Boa constictor constrictor). Refers to "true" red tail boas such as the Guyana and Suriname locales.

	Boa Constrictor Imperator Boa Constrictor (Boa constrictor imperator). Most common is the Colombian Boa.

[RoyalRazer]

A man has been eaten this morning but what appears to be a hacthling african-rock python. The man known as &quot;bigred&quot;, order the snake not knowing it would be his demise. Know one knows how a full grown man could have been eaten by such a small snake, some think he was a midget, others believe he curled up into a ball and let the snake swallow him. But then they'd be plain stupid.

LOL [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif[/img] [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif[/img] [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif[/img] Just trying to scare ya!!! It will probaly just swallow your head and will give up!!! [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif[/img] [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_razz.gif[/img] [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]
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[bensnacks]

Going off topic here ,(still involves reptiles eating people).

The tour guide who was involved in the incident in Aust. about a
month ago where a female tourist was taken by a croc. Well the guide is
being charged with negligence resulting in death, turns out he was probably
drunk when he was 'spotting' crocs for the girl while she swam.
Why the heck they decided it was alright to go swimming in croc waters ,at
night mind you is beyond me [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img] .
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[ChrisRezendes]

That reminds me of a story I saw that was actually on, of all channels, Animal Planet. There was this show about snakes attacks on humans. Most of them seemed ordinary enough, mostly pet snakes attacking their owners. But the very first story was the most outrageous thing I've ever heard. They tried to convince the audience (and probably quite successfully) that a 12ft. long Amethystine Python had broken into somebody's home. I don't doubt that part. Here's where it starts to get crazy. They tried to say the python's sole purpose for entering the home was to EAT A HUMAN. WTF? Now, at 12ft. long, it could probaly take up to a 4 year old (or a small 5), but they wanted us to think that he was after ANY human he could find, child or otherwise. Now, it takes an even more ridiculous turn. A dog starts to bark to warn the family of the snake's intrusion. So the snake kills the dog so the people in the house won't know he's there. So, they want us to think that a snake has the intelligence to formulate the plan of killing a dog SO THE PEOPLE WON'T KNOW HE'S THERE!!! Nevermind the fact that snake's can't hear. At this point my brother and I are laughing our asses off. I'm thinking, if the snake even did kill the dog, he would have killed it only if it either attacked him or if he viewed the dog as prey. I think it's most likely that the dog attacked him. Then the parents wake up to find the snake with it's mouth on one of their children. I have no doubt the snake may have attacked one of the children, and I'll even believe it attacked the dog. It's the producer's blatant ignorance that really threw me off. Killing the dog so it can't warn the family? Are they complete morons? And they also wanted us to believe that a f'n 12 foot long python (keep in mind scrubs tend to be much slimmer than a rock/burm) actually was capable of eating an adult human, and that that was it's sole purpose in the home. I'm even more shocked that Animal Planet saw fit to show it. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img]
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[pincess_wy]

&lt;&lt;&lt;A man has been eaten this morning but what appears to be a hacthling african-rock python. The man known as &quot;bigred&quot;, order the snake not knowing it would be his demise.&gt;&gt;&gt;

[img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif[/img] LMAO!! Hey, bigred? Post something so we can all know that you're still alive.... it's been a few days. Are you there? hehe.


And Chris, you're talking about that big snakes special they did, right? I think there was a whole thread about the show a while back. I just wanted to warn you, don't underestimate the analytical abilities of hungry wandering snakes.... jk. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]
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[ChrisRezendes]

Yeah, it was definitely a Big Snake's special... They had nothing of keepers/workers bitten by any vens or any allergic reactions to salival bacteria of non-vens... Just people getting attacked by various pythons, and I believe someone was attacked by a Boa Constrictor as well... I don't remember much of the program except one person attacked by his pet Burm (prey smell on him), a zoo keeper attacked by a retic (working by himself, beandip), and that one. I remember all the details from that one just because it was so outrageous, while all the others were very possible, if rare. I'm glad someone knows what I'm talking about, lol...
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