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Hillwilliam -> RE: 'Hungry' 7.5ft boa constrictor on loose --Seven-and-a-half foot long 'hungry and unfriendly' [lol] (7/1/2011 10:51:47 AM)
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Deady to what hunky? Rabbits?
Shit hunky, to paraphrase "Crocodile Dundee"
thats not a snake....THIS is a snake
7 TRAPPERS COAX 20-FOOT PYTHON FROM UNDER HOME
Friday, August 18, 1989
by RACHEL JONES Herald Staff Writer
David Spalding spotted the 20-foot-long snake in his Fort Lauderdale backyard a month ago, calmly feasting on a raccoon.
On Thursday, after two days of planning, plotting, digging and prodding, a courageous crew of seven men held a wriggling, writhing, 250-pound, reticulated python that had made its home under Spalding's house on Northeast 19th Street.
It's called reticulated because of its diamond-shaped, net- like markings. The reptile seemed gigantic, as thick through the middle as a child.
The Spalding family had little to say about the matter, which made the NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw on Thursday evening.
"You can understand," David Spalding said, "this whole thing has us very upset."
In the weeks after spotting the python, Spalding frantically made calls trying to find someone to help him remove it from his property. He called a snake museum, a biologist, a herpetologist and the Discovery Center.
He finally found Todd Hardwick , who runs Pesky Critters, a Dade business specializing in removing animals. A recent job involved moving a bull from a runway at the Opa-locka Airport, he said.
"We'll remove everything but dogs and cats," said Hardwick , a small, wiry man with a Bowie knife hanging from his belt. "There's not anything too unusual for us."
The python, 12 inches in diameter, might have been released by someone who once owned it as a pet, Hardwick said. "It's common for exotic snakes to be released in South Florida."
Reticulated pythons are native to southeast Asia, where they nest on riverbanks and wait for unsuspecting prey. They aren't poisonous -- they kill by squeezing their victims to death.
The python grew fat on a diet of raccoons and squirrels preyed upon in nearby Hugh Taylor Birch State Recreation Area. It could tackle anything up to 75 pounds, he said.
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