July 15, 2009

On July 1, a pet albino python, like the one shown above, strangled to death a 2-year-old girl in Florida. It's triggered legislation to address the state's long-standing problem where about 100,000 pythons roam the Everglades. (ZT Pet News Photo)

Girl's Death Prompts Python Hunts: Legislatures are seeking to make python hunts legal in Florida after a 2-year-old girl was strangled to death by her family's pet snake. ZT Pet News asks: is this the answer? Take our poll above and let us know what you think.

NEW YORK -- A recent tragedy has called international attention to a problem long been plaguing Florida -- the invasion of Burmese Python snakes.

The July 1 death of 2-year-old Shaiunna Hare, of Oxford, Fla., is the twelfth death in the US by pet pythons since 1980, including five children, according to the Humane Society of the United States.

But an estimated 100,000 pythons now roam the Everglades, a problem created by pet owners freeing snakes into the wild.

Scientists also believe a number of Burmese pythons escaped in 1992 from pet shops battered by Hurricane Andrew and have been reproducing since.

“Lord forbid, a visitor in the Everglades ever encounters one,” U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., wrote in a letter Tuesday to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.

In his letter, Nelson asked Salazar to use other agencies or deputized agents to go after the snakes and kill them en masse in a special hunt.

“The survival of the Everglades, and South Florida’s entire ecosystem relies on removing and halting the introduction of dangerous non-native wildlife,” said U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Fla., who also introduced legislation to allow python hunts in the Everglades on Tuesday.

“The legislation I have introduced and cosponsored is a good start to battling the pythons, and I will continue to work with the National Park Service, the state of Florida, and SFWMD to find ways to eradicate this dangerous invasive species,” Rooney said in a released statement.

Between 2000 and 2004, roughly 65,000 Burmese Pythons were imported into the United States. Nelson recently introduced a bill to ban imports of the snakes, after years of trying to persuade federal wildlife officials to restrict their entry into the country.

To date, almost 1,000 Burmese Pythons have been removed from the Everglades. During warmer months pythons stay hidden in saw grass, but in Florida's cooler months, the snakes come out to sun on the roadsides and open areas.

The Risk of Deadly Pets

In the incident of Shaiunna's death, Charles Jason Darnell, the snake's owner and the boyfriend of Shaiunna's mother, discovered the 8-feet long snake missing from its tank and rushed to the girl's room.

Darnell found the snake on top of Shaiunna, who also had bite marks on her head. The 32-year-old then stabbed the snake until he was able to pry the girl away.

Paramedics declared the girl dead at the scene. While Darnell has not been charged, authorities are investigating the case, where he may face child endangerment charges and a misdemeanor charge for not having a permit to keep a python.

Another US family had a run-in with their pet python in Sept. 2008, as ZT Pet News previously reported.

A Las Vegas father was forced to kill his family’s 15-foot long pet Burmese Python after the snake attacked his 13-year-old daughter.

The father, who preferred to keep his family’s identity concealed, cut the pet snake’s head off after it bit his daughter’s leg and coiled around the girl and her uncle, who was also trying to help free the girl.

That behavior, according to Jim Murphy, who retired as director of the Department of Herpetology at the Dallas Zoo after 30 years, sounds like a “feeding response.”

“Anything could have been a reason," Murphy said about the cause of the attack. “The snake could have viewed her as potential prey.”

Murphy said that a normal response for a Burmese Python that feels threatened is to strike, often several times, and then retreat.

A snake that bites and constricts is looking to feed, he said.

After the attack, the Las Vegas family, said Burmese Python owners need to pay attention to their pets and should reconsider having one at all if children are in the house.

United States Geological Survey Research Zoologist Roy McDiarmid agreed.

“Any time you operate with, keep or are around a large predator, which a 15-foot snake is, it’s potentially more of a risk,” McDiarmid said.

McDiarmid, who doesn’t own any snakes himself, said he has heard of people with large, predatory pets that have run into trouble. People who keep pets like that, McDiarmid said, “I won’t say they’re crazy, but they’re close to it.”

ZT Pet News editor Robin Wallace contributed to this report.