Jul 1, 2009 11:45 am US/Central
Pet Python Kills Fla. Girl
ORLANDO (CBS) ―
A 12-foot Burmese python, kept as a pet by a Central Florida family, killed a 2-year-old girl in her bedroom Wednesday, according to the Sumter County Sheriff's Office.
The family lived in Oxford, which is about 50 miles northwest of Orlando. The owner of the snake, Charles Jason Darnell, said it broke out of its glass aquarium overnight, went to the girl's room and attacked her.
32-year-old Darnell, who was the girl's mother's boyfriend, said he went into her room and found the snake wrapped around her with bite marks on the toddler's head. He told deputies he stabbed it while others called 911.
Pythons are 'constrictors' which kill their prey by wrapping their bodies around it and applying pressure which cuts off the flow of oxygen. Attacks on human beings are rare unless they are startled or provoked.
Pythons are not native to Florida and can easily grow to 10 or 12 feet long, according to Jorge Pino with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. In fact, some can reach a length of 26 feet and weigh more than 200 pounds.
According to The Humane Society of the United States, at least 12 people now have been killed in the country by pet pythons since 1980, including five children.
Pino said Floridians who keep pythons are required to have a license from the state. Darnell did not have a permit, which could be a second-degree misdemeanor. He has not been charged.
Some owners have freed pythons into the wild; a population of them have taken hold in the Everglades.
"It's becoming more and more of a problem, perhaps no fault of the animal, more a fault of the human," Pino said. "People purchase these animals when they're small. When they grow, they either can't control them or release them."
One killed an alligator and then exploded when it tried to eat it. Scientists also speculate a bevy of Burmese pythons escaped in 1992 from pet shops battered by Hurricane Andrew and have been reproducing since.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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