Recently authorities removed an 18 foot long, 30 inches around, 400+ pounds python from the backyard of a home in Florida. Now the snake didn’t slither up to someone’s property and scare the heck out of them. No. This was someone’s pet snake that was housed out back in a chain link cage. The giant python was being feed rabbits - seven rabbits was a common meal.
According to the caretaker the snake is docile, but has escaped its cage before. With 400 pounds of muscle that doesn’t come as a real surprise. Thank goodness this pet python did not harm anyone like the pet python in a nearby county. That pet killed a two year old little girl. With the removal of this pet, I know the neighbors are breathing a little easier tonight.
Some may think the irresponsible behavior was to get a snake as a pet in the first place. However, the real irresponsible behavior was acting on the belief that the snake was not a predatory animal. Every animal who has their needs met (food, comfortable shelter, etc.) and used to human contact may appear to us as a docile pet. Many owners of exotic or naturally aggressive pets also get lulled into a false sense of authority. They believe they have complete control over their pet’s behavioral instincts. At some point, they forget to respect the power of the animal and don’t take the necessary safety precautions.
In some cases, the pet owners have no idea what precautions they should take because they don’t bother to find out the details of their pet’s capabilities and instinctual personalities. We see this type of behavior in the pet owners of many aggressive breed dog owners. With so much information readily available, it’s hard to understand how that pet owners can still be surprised that an aggressive, predatory or dangerous animal can be…well, themselves.