14 DAY TRIAL // This past Monday, October 5, a reptile shop owner in the city of Newport in Kentucky, US, was attacked by a massive python measuring an astounding 20 feet (6 meters) from head to tail and tipping the scale at about 125 pounds (nearly 57 kilograms).
Reports say the man, identified as Terry Wilkins, was simply trying to feed the animal. Unfortunately, the snake chose to ignore the food and attacked the reptile shop owner instead.
The python nearly killed the man
Reports say the mammoth snake coiled itself around the man's body and started to squeeze him. Witnesses called the emergency line, and soon enough, law enforcement officers came to Terry Wilkins' help.
One of them grabbed the snake by its head and so managed to force it off its victim. However, when finally freed, the man wasn't breathing. Luckily, paramedics managed to revive him.
The reptile shop owner was rushed to the nearest hospital. Although the attack left him nearly dead, his condition has somewhat improved and doctors expect he will make a full recovery.
An investigation is ongoing to determine whether Terry Wilkins should be allowed to continue to care for the python or if maybe the snake should be removed from his reptile shop and taken to a wildlife sanctuary.
Pythons will never make good pets
In a statement on this incident in Newport, Kentucky, the Humane Society of the US argues that, as majestic as they might be, the fact of the matter is pythons and other such dangerous reptiles do not make good pets.
Hence, the organization demands that lawmakers ban reptile shops from keeping such creatures and selling them to people. Otherwise, attacks like the one on Terry Wilkins this Monday will continue to happen.
“Large constrictor snakes attack both vulnerable children living in households where these dangerous predators are kept, as well as experienced reptile handlers,” Corey Roscoe with the Humane Society of the US said in an interview. “We hope that Mr. Wilkins recovers from his injuries. We also hope that snake sellers end their propagation of deadly reptiles to the public, risking their safety and that of first responders,” he added.