THE ENQUIRER (Cinncinnati, Ohio) 19 December 06 Knowledge not enough - Experienced handler was killed despite care (Jennifer Mrozowski and Peggy O'Farrell)
A man killed early Saturday by a pet python was an experienced snake handler who loved animals, his mother said Monday.
"Ted knew snakes so well. He'd had snakes since he was 9 years old. He knew exactly what to do," said Elaine Dres, of Rossmoyne.
Ted Dres, 48, died early Saturday at Bethesda North Hospital. The construction worker's snake, an 11-foot Burmese python, wrapped itself around his neck, strangling him.
Elaine Dres said her son slipped and fell into the cage, which was about 6-by-3 feet and about 3 feet tall, and the snake attacked. Dres' girlfriend called 911, she said. Sheriff's deputies and workers from an animal-protection group "bagged" the snake, but Loveland-Symmes medics could not revive Dres, said Fire Chief Jim Huber.
The attack happened at Dres' home in the 10000 block of Lincoln Road in Symmes Township.
Next-door neighbor Craig Schatzman said he was in shock over the accident, particularly because Dres was so adept at handling the snake.
Schatzman said Dres would bring the snake outside in the front yard to show the neighborhood kids and let them touch it. But he was also protective of the snake, Schatzman said.
"He treated it like we treat cats and dogs," he said. "He loved it."
The snake is being held at Hamilton County SPCA's shelter.
Dres' death prompted the Humane Society of the United States and the Animal Protection Institute to renew their call on state legislators to ban the private ownership of exotic animals Monday.
"Keeping wild animals in our communities is simply too dangerous to public safety and to the welfare of the animals," said Dean Vickers, Ohio program coordinator for the Humane Society.
Private ownership of wild animals is "an accident waiting to happen," said Nicole Paquette, director of legal and government affairs at the Animal Protection Institute.
Arrowhead Reptile Rescue has lined up a new home for the snake.
Elaine Dres said her son had owned the snake for more than 10 years.
Members of the Herpetological Society of Greater Cincinnati visited the snake Monday at the shelter. Dean Allesandrini, vice president and conservation committee chairman of the herpetological society, said the snake "looked a little bit underfed."
If the snake was underfed, hunger might have made it more aggressive and prone to attack when its cage was opened, he said.
"That's almost always how it happens when someone gets injured by a python," Allesandrini said. "They've got a very strong instinctual feeding response."
He and Grady Calhoun, president of the society, both evaluated the snake.
The python "actually looked a little small, considering it killed a human," Allesandrini said. "We were both shocked that it was able to kill a man."
Pythons kill their prey by biting it, then wrapping their bodies around the prey and constricting, he said.
"If you struggle, the snake thinks its prey is getting away and constricts tighter," Allesandrini said.
Snakes in the wild are solitary animals, he said. Kept as pets, they don't bond with their owners the way a dog or cat would, "but they do stop seeing you as a threat. But if you smell like a rabbit, the snake will attack."
Shawn Hughes, who breeds and sells ball pythons in the Mount Washington area, said pythons are more likely to bite if they're hungry or they haven't been handled enough by their owners.
Female Burmese pythons can get as long as 20 feet and weigh up to 270 pounds, he said.
Dres' calling hours will be 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Strawser Funeral Home, 9503 Kenwood Road in Blue Ash. The funeral will be 10:30 a.m. Friday at the funeral home.
Experienced handler was killed despite care

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