Samwise rides again

A sad tale from Aunty …

A pet python broke out of its holding tank and strangled a two-year-old girl in the bedroom of her home in Florida

The 8ft (2.5m) albino Burmese python had also bitten Shaiunna Hare on her forehead several times.

Charles Darnell, the snake’s owner and boyfriend of Shaiunna’s mother, stabbed the python and prised the child away, but she died before paramedics arrived.

Authorities removed the snake from the home after obtaining a search warrant.

Officials said Mr Darnell did not have a permit for the snake. He could face child endangerment or other charges.

According to police, Mr Darnell said he had put the snake in a bag in an aquarium container on Tuesday night, but awoke the next morning to find it missing.

Mr Darnell “ran immediately to the infant’s room” and discovered “the snake on the child“.

“He also said he observed bite marks on the forehead of the child,”

Wildlife officials say they are growing increasingly concerned by the proliferation of pythons in the Florida wilderness.

It is believed that some have been released by pet owners who can no longer care for them.

The snakes are breeding in the Everglades, where they have no natural predators.

Burmese pythons can reach a length of 16ft (5m) and live for 30 years.

The US Humane Society told Associated Press news agency that at least 12 people have been killed in the US by pet pythons since 1980, including five children.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbvP7dT3Dx0

Al points us to the Guardian’s investigation into MP expenses which, if you are living in the mother land, they ask you to participate in.

http://mps-expenses.guardian.co.uk/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRQB2YXUxvY

Thanks, Jenna :O)

I’ve been a fan of Sun for a long time. For almost three decades it has been building great technology and marketing it spectacularly badly. Any company with better engineering than marketing is attractive to people in the technology world, and Sun is the company that would build a better mousetrap, market it as a “cat replacement,” and wonder why all of its customers were complaining when their fingers were injured trying to stroke it.

Aunty …

Aunty …

A rare white tiger has mauled to death a New Zealand zoo keeper as horrified tourists looked on

The attack occurred at the Zion Wildlife Gardens in Whangarei, some 200km (124 miles) north of Auckland.

Police said the tiger grabbed a male zoo keeper who was cleaning an enclosure and would not let go despite the efforts of other staff members.

The zoo - home to some 40 rare lions and tigers - has been closed to visitors, and the tiger destroyed.

Police said the attack was witnessed by a group of eight tourists.

The keeper was named in local media as South African Dalu Mncube who reportedly rescued one of his colleagues from an attack earlier this year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSZVXmrBJiU

Thanks, Marc :O)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2FX9rviEhw

Thanks Alison :O)