[Easyrider]

African Rock Python kills 2 boys....

Snake kills two boys during sleepover, Canadian police say - CNN.com


Constrictor Snakes Incidents

http://www.humanesociety.org/assets/...-incidents.pdf


“The baby’s dead.
Our stupid snake got
out in the middle of
the night and
strangled the baby.”
Florida man in a frantic
911 call after finding the
family’s pet Burmese
python killed his
girlfriend’s 2-year-old
daughter as she slept in her crib.

[Happinow]

It's pretty simple, if "they" didn't give us cause for concern, then there would be no concern. I happen to think that bringing a snake to the squares is cause for concern.

[PennBF]

I believe my comments were that when you have populated areas you are more subject to more problems than in a "non populated" area. This is a simple reality. I am from a very large metro city in the north and when I was in the country I had a much better sense of peace than in Manhattan. It is a true fact that Brownwood is closer to population than Lake Sumter and Spanish Springs. Does it mean that Brownwood has serious problems because it is closer to population. The answer is no. Does it mean Brownwood would probably experience more problems than a farm in a rural area. Of course. The answer is somewhere in the middle.

[DougB]

Originally Posted by PennBF

I believe my comments were that when you have populated areas you are more subject to more problems than in a "non populated" area. This is a simple reality. I am from a very large metro city in the north and when I was in the country I had a much better sense of peace than in Manhattan. It is a true fact that Brownwood is closer to population than Lake Sumter and Spanish Springs. Does it mean that Brownwood has serious problems because it is closer to population. The answer is no. Does it mean Brownwood would probably experience more problems than a farm in a rural area. Of course. The answer is somewhere in the middle.

Brownwood is closer to population than Spanish Springs???

[billethkid]

Where do Summerfield, Bellview, Oxford, Fruitland fit in the "population proximity relationships with TV?

btk

[Shirleevee]

Originally Posted by Bonny

Well spoken. I don't like people who think they are better than others. Such a shame. I can't imagine being a Wildwood resident and reading some of the posts that are put on this forum. I know several awesome people that live in Wildwood !

Thank you Bonnie! I think it has a name!

[livefree]

The link Easyrider provided above, from the U.S. Humane Society, is informative beyond anything I ever knew or feared about these pythons.

For those above who made excuses for the python that killed a 2-year-old child right here in Oxford, saying that it was only because the snake was starved, think again. The humane society link here reports dozens of fatal and near-fatal incidents of pythons/constrictors being cared for by experienced owners and handlers who were attacked and strangled by them. Please read. They are not as harmless as many people seem to think.

If the U.S. Humane Society refers to them as "these deadly predators", then I think people should take note and stop minimizing the dangers they present when not even threatened:

Constrictor snake incidents
Seventeen people have died from large constrictor snake related incidents in the United States since 1978--12 just since 1990........Scores of adults and children have been injured during attacks by these deadly predators.

Children, parents, and authorities are finding released or escaped pet pythons, boa constrictors, and anacondas all over the country, where they endanger communities, threaten ecosystems, and in many cases suffer tragic deaths. Following is a partial list of incidents, organized by various categories, involving constrictor snakes that have been reported in 45 states.

January 21, 2009/Las Vegas, Nevada: A 3-year-old boy was bitten and squeezed to the point of unconsciousness by an 18-foot reticulated python that the family was taking care of for a friend. It took six police officers, an animal control officer and the mother, who stabbed the snake with a kitchen knife, to free the child. The child had "light brown stuff" coming from his mouth and his face turned blue. As the mother began CPR, the injured snake then wrapped around her waist. The toddler was hospitalized overnight. The snake had been in the home for four to six weeks and had somehow gotten loose. The snake was euthanized. The parents were charged with felony child abuse and ultimately entered a plea deal for a misdemeanor charge.

August 30, 2008/Las Vegas, Nevada: A 13-year-old girl visiting her father was attacked by a pet Burmese python while she was sleeping in a bed. Responding to the commotion, her father and uncle were unable to uncoil the snake. They decapitated the approximately 15-foot snake with a butcher knife to rescue the girl. The teenager was hospitalized overnight with bruised ribs and a swollen abdomen. The snake reportedly escaped from a large tank with locks. The same day, a student zookeeper in Venezuela was crushed to death by a Burmese python."

Please read the entire report:
http://www.humanesociety.org/assets/...-incidents.pdf

[redwitch]

No one ever said pythons and boas were harmless -- they're wild animals -- but attacks are rare if the snake is properly cared for. More people die annually of dog bites (31 in 2011; 38 in 2012 in the U.S.) than are injured by pet snakes. Just recently a zookeeper was killed by an elephant he had worked with for several years. The point is that there is no law in having a snake out in public and, therefore, the young man was doing nothing illegal and could not and should not be banned from the squares (although I stand by my comment that what he did was harmful to his snake). That doesn't mean I like the idea of large snake being at the squares, it simply means that unless a law or rule of some sort is made banning reptiles, he has every right to be there.

Citing stories about reptile attacks is totally irrelevant. So long as the young man had a license to keep the snake (which we'll probably never know), he was within his rights.

Again, I'm sorry the snake frightened you. I can imagine that seeing a large snake draped around someone's shoulders could be shocking at the very least and it is perfectly reasonable to have gotten as far away from the snake as possible. But it still stands that snakes are legally allowed to be kept as pets; that they are allowed in public; and that the squares in The Villages are open to the public.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by redwitch

No one ever said pythons and boas were harmless -- they're wild animals -- but attacks are rare if the snake is properly cared for. More people die annually of dog bites (31 in 2011; 38 in 2012 in the U.S.) than are injured by pet snakes. Just recently a zookeeper was killed by an elephant he had worked with for several years. The point is that there is no law in having a snake out in public and, therefore, the young man was doing nothing illegal and could not and should not be banned from the squares (although I stand by my comment that what he did was harmful to his snake). That doesn't mean I like the idea of large snake being at the squares, it simply means that unless a law or rule of some sort is made banning reptiles, he has every right to be there.

Citing stories about reptile attacks is totally irrelevant. So long as the young man had a license to keep the snake (which we'll probably never know), he was within his rights.

Again, I'm sorry the snake frightened you. I can imagine that seeing a large snake draped around someone's shoulders could be shocking at the very least and it is perfectly reasonable to have gotten as far away from the snake as possible. But it still stands that snakes are legally allowed to be kept as pets; that they are allowed in public; and that the squares in The Villages are open to the public.

It wasn't NICE, Red, you are so kind and fair, you were probably thinking about the snake too.... BUT I would guess it is common knowledge that MOST people are afraid of snakes. It wasn't NICE, or thoughtful or kind. It was SHOWING OFF! And I would skin my kids if they tried to do it.

[redwitch]

Gacie, it was thoughtless. I think most who own snakes (including when I did many, many moons ago) do it partly to show off -- we're not afraid of the Bogeyman type thing. But nice or not, he still had the RIGHT to bring it there. Citing incidents of snake attacks is meaningless.

What I'm afraid of is if snakes are somehow banned from the squares, dogs will be next. Many are truly terrified of dogs. Personally, I think the dogs are the best thing about the squares and I'm like a little kid running up to pet every one I can (and people have brought dogs there that bite strangers). If you ban one pet because people are afraid, it is much easier to ban another type because people are afraid.

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by billethkid

the so called "concern" about Wildwood is nothing more than an urban legend type product usuualy dispensed by folks who are elitist types who parrot third, fourth, twelfth hand stories about the area.

If most of the hometowns that many who live here are from were close to one of our "safe" town centers, they would belooked down upon as well.......they just are not of the bubble.

95% of the residents of Wildwood are...get ready...NO DIFFERENT THAN US!!!!!!!!

How very unfair to residents and their families who have been here for years to be rated by outsidders (that would be us from the bubble!!). Remember we are the intruders not the citizens of Wildwood.

Ridiculous snobbery! Unfounded concern!! But to each his own opinion even if it is wrong.

btk

Well said. I agree.

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by Easyrider

African Rock Python kills 2 boys....

Snake kills two boys during sleepover, Canadian police say - CNN.com


Constrictor Snakes Incidents

http://www.humanesociety.org/assets/...-incidents.pdf


�The baby�s dead.
Our stupid snake got
out in the middle of
the night and
strangled the baby.�
Florida man in a frantic
911 call after finding the
family�s pet Burmese
python killed his
girlfriend�s 2-year-old
daughter as she slept in her crib.

No comparison to someone walking around with a pet snake.

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by livefree

The link Easyrider provided above, from the U.S. Humane Society, is informative beyond anything I ever knew or feared about these pythons.

For those above who made excuses for the python that killed a 2-year-old child right here in Oxford, saying that it was only because the snake was starved, think again. The humane society link here reports dozens of fatal and near-fatal incidents of pythons/constrictors being cared for by experienced owners and handlers who were attacked and strangled by them. Please read. They are not as harmless as many people seem to think.

If the U.S. Humane Society refers to them as "these deadly predators", then I think people should take note and stop minimizing the dangers they present when not even threatened:

Constrictor snake incidents
Seventeen people have died from large constrictor snake related incidents in the United States since 1978--12 just since 1990........Scores of adults and children have been injured during attacks by these deadly predators.

Children, parents, and authorities are finding released or escaped pet pythons, boa constrictors, and anacondas all over the country, where they endanger communities, threaten ecosystems, and in many cases suffer tragic deaths. Following is a partial list of incidents, organized by various categories, involving constrictor snakes that have been reported in 45 states.

January 21, 2009/Las Vegas, Nevada: A 3-year-old boy was bitten and squeezed to the point of unconsciousness by an 18-foot reticulated python that the family was taking care of for a friend. It took six police officers, an animal control officer and the mother, who stabbed the snake with a kitchen knife, to free the child. The child had "light brown stuff" coming from his mouth and his face turned blue. As the mother began CPR, the injured snake then wrapped around her waist. The toddler was hospitalized overnight. The snake had been in the home for four to six weeks and had somehow gotten loose. The snake was euthanized. The parents were charged with felony child abuse and ultimately entered a plea deal for a misdemeanor charge.

August 30, 2008/Las Vegas, Nevada: A 13-year-old girl visiting her father was attacked by a pet Burmese python while she was sleeping in a bed. Responding to the commotion, her father and uncle were unable to uncoil the snake. They decapitated the approximately 15-foot snake with a butcher knife to rescue the girl. The teenager was hospitalized overnight with bruised ribs and a swollen abdomen. The snake reportedly escaped from a large tank with locks. The same day, a student zookeeper in Venezuela was crushed to death by a Burmese python."

Please read the entire report:
http://www.humanesociety.org/assets/...-incidents.pdf

What is the relationship of these incidents to someone walking around with a pet snake?

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by redwitch

No one ever said pythons and boas were harmless -- they're wild animals -- but attacks are rare if the snake is properly cared for. More people die annually of dog bites (31 in 2011; 38 in 2012 in the U.S.) than are injured by pet snakes. Just recently a zookeeper was killed by an elephant he had worked with for several years. The point is that there is no law in having a snake out in public and, therefore, the young man was doing nothing illegal and could not and should not be banned from the squares (although I stand by my comment that what he did was harmful to his snake). That doesn't mean I like the idea of large snake being at the squares, it simply means that unless a law or rule of some sort is made banning reptiles, he has every right to be there.

Citing stories about reptile attacks is totally irrelevant. So long as the young man had a license to keep the snake (which we'll probably never know), he was within his rights.

Again, I'm sorry the snake frightened you. I can imagine that seeing a large snake draped around someone's shoulders could be shocking at the very least and it is perfectly reasonable to have gotten as far away from the snake as possible. But it still stands that snakes are legally allowed to be kept as pets; that they are allowed in public; and that the squares in The Villages are open to the public.

This is worth repeating...................

[donb9006]

Originally Posted by billethkid

95% of the residents of Wildwood are...get ready...NO DIFFERENT THAN US!!!!!!!!

btk

I'd be inclined to believe that your numbers are reversed...5% are like us, the other 95%...not so much. It's why we have walls and gates...