KCTV (Kansas City, Kansas) 22 July 04 Pet Python Puts Squeeze on Boy, Mother (Andy Combs)
Overland Park, Kansas: A large pet python put the squeeze on a boy who was trying to feed it.
It happened at about 8 p.m. Wednesday when the snake's owner, 15-year-old Patrick Combs, was preparing to feed it, KCTV5's Robert Lyles reported live Wednesday on "KCTV5 News at 10 p.m."
The 3-year-old Burmese python named Baby, which weighs 140 pounds and is 14 feet long, caught the scent of the food on Patrick's arm, and instead of going for the food, the python bit into his hand.
The family described how the python started to constrict Patrick and his mother.
"As he lifted the lid to like open it up to throw the rabbit in, it bit onto his hand and just wrapped all the way around his arm," said Andy Combs, Patrick's brother. "It happened so fast, and he was just like, 'Get Mom.' My Mom came down, and she tried to like help pull it off, and it just wrapped around her hand."
"She had probably 12 inches of her tail wrapped around my forearm, and that was it," said Heather Combs, Patrick's mother.
She said she was scared.
"I love snakes, but I'll never have one that size again, never," she said.
Patrick was recovering from at Menorah Medical Center Wednesday night.
Animal Control officials were expected to take custody of the snake.
Robert reported that the family might be cited. Though it's not illegal to own a python, he said, there apparently are rules about their containment.
Coincidentally, the mother had become so concerned about the growing size of the snake that she had made arrangements to have the snake taken away Wednesday night, but the snake attacked before the person could arrive.
http://www.kctv5.com/Global/story.asp?S=2075014&nav=1PubP4RW
WLKY (Louisville, Kentucky) 22 July 04 15-Foot Python Puts Squeeze On Teenage Boy
Overland Park, Kansas: A pet python measuring 15 feet put the squeeze on a teenage boy Wednesday night.
The snake attack happened in Kansas.
The teen was showing off the 140-pound family pet when it coiled around his arm and began to squeeze, turning the boy's arm blue. The teen's brother, Andy Coombs, ran to get help.
"It bit onto his hand and just wrapped around and, like, came out of the cage onto him," Andy said. "My mom came downstairs and she was trying to help get it off, and then it got her hand ... we just called 911."
Emergency crews used a quick burst from a fire extinguisher to get the snake to loosen its grip just enough to free the boy. He was not seriously hurt.
The snake was not harmed. It was fed and put back in its cage in its owner's home Wednesday night.
http://www.thelouisvillechannel.com/family/3563751/detail.html
