Python bites toddler
Published: Wed, Aug. 01, 2007 12:00AM
Modified Wed, Aug. 01, 2007 03:03AM
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closeChristine Abdelmonem wanted her 15-month-old son to get a better look at the ducks waddling nearby in Charlotte's Freedom Park, so she lowered him to the ground.
Before Adam's feet touched the grass, she felt a sharp tug. Wrapped around her son's leg was a ball python.
She could see the snake, at least 4 feet long, biting Adam on the leg. Without thinking, she yanked the snake away and screamed for help.
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Two maintenance workers rushed over. One tried to kill the snake with a shovel but ended up trapping it in a bucket, said Karla Thornhill of Mecklenburg Park and Recreation. The Charlotte Nature Museum confirmed that the snake was a ball python, Thornhill said. The species is carnivorous and native to Africa, generally well-mannered and curls into a ball if threatened.
John Calchera, owner of Pineville Pets, took in the snake. He said it might have been abandoned by a pet owner. He said he doesn't think the snake will survive after being beaten by the shovel.
Adam, however, will be fine. He has a small bite mark on his leg, but the ball python isn't poisonous.
On Tuesday, he was walking around the southeast Charlotte apartment where he lives with his mom and dad. He cried while the snake was on him, his mother said, but recovered surprisingly fast.
"When I pulled it off, he was fine," she said. "I wasn't."
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