STATE GAZETTE (Dyersburg, Tennessee) 30 August 05 Child bit by snake at circus (Nick Fowler)

Amanda Walton said her 5-year-old son Seth was excited to see a snake at the circus in Newbern until the 5-foot Burmese python bit into his shoulder and refused to let go.

The snake had to be pulled from the boy's shoulder, ripping the skin in the process, according to the boy's mother.

"You could hear my son's skin rip when he pulled the snake off my son," she said.

Seth was rushed to the Dyersburg Regional Medical Center, where the bite wound was treated, and he was released.

Though snakes do not carry rabies, Walton said, she is still concerned about other diseases the snake could have been carrying.

After leaving the hospital, the family filed a report with the Newbern Police Department.

Newbern police made contact with Alfredo Curiel, who was in charge of the crew that was dismantling the circus equipment. Curiel was able to corroborate Walton's story, but the police were unable to locate the owners of the circus, who they say are Ray and Claudette Valentine. The phone number the owners left has been disconnected.

Walton said the incident occurred during intermission at around 7:45 p.m. During that time, Walton approached the snake handler, because she likes snakes and wanted to get a better look at the python.

"When I walked up there the guy put the snake around my neck," she said.

The snake was trying to get near her head, and it was trying to rap itself around her neck, she said.

The snake began to constrict around her neck, and as she pulled the snake away, the snake bit Seth, according to the police report.

"He jerked his head out of my hand and grabbed hold of my son," Walton said. "It jerked my son to the ground."

She said her son was traumatized by the event and that it had caused him to have nightmares. She said her 2-year-old son was there as well, and that if the snake had bitten him, it could have killed him.

Walton is asking that any witnesses of the incident to contact her.
Child bit by snake at circus

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