Indonesian Snake Hunt: 22-Feet-Long Python On The Loose

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesian villagers are hunting a giant python that killed a 13-year-old boy a week ago on Sumatra island.

Police Chief Capt. Joshua Tampubolon said Monday that the 23-feet-long (7-meter-long) python was believed to be hiding in waterway tunnels built by a textile company for its industrial waste.

Villagers from Percut Sei Tuan in Deli Serdang district blocked road access to the tunnels Sunday to protect the public.

Tampubolon said the victim and three friends were swimming in the Tembung River when the snake attacked March 21. It strangled and nearly swallowed the boy before villagers armed with spears forced it to flee.

Pythons native to Indonesia usually grow up to 6 meters.

Comments

[goodmorningsunshine]

11:40 PM on 03/29/2010

I'm ophidiophobe and just the picture of it make me cringe.

[smilodon1]

09:17 PM on 03/29/2010

It sounds like the Republicanderthal party is missing its mascot.

[goodmorningsunshine]

11:38 PM on 03/29/2010

LOL so true.

[amaboss52]

05:16 PM on 03/29/2010

They finally found $arahs twin?

[VivaldiPickpocket]

05:13 PM on 03/29/2010

I think that belongs to Tiger.

He'll be reclaiming it after he wins the Masters next week.

[lungfish]

04:16 PM on 03/29/2010

There have been big snakes all along and some are probably a lot longer than this. I bet there is a 35footer somewhere. There are fossils of fifty footers...
The Florida boids are going to be fearsome in a few decades. Even the Alligators there are getting pretty big. Saw some video of one closer to twenty feet than fifteen... and the rock pythons and retics have all the room they need to do some serious growing...

[takeyourballandgohome]

03:52 PM on 03/29/2010

Florida the sunshine state? How long will it be before we read this about Florida?

[lioness39]

03:36 PM on 03/29/2010

Round up all tea baggers and dump in that river immediately.

[amaboss52]

05:07 PM on 03/29/2010

Poisoning the river and the poor pythons?

[Daisytoo]

03:14 PM on 03/29/2010

Pythons and Boa Constrictors (along w/ several hundred non native species bought as 'pets' and then released into the Everglades) are now residing in ever growing numbers in Florida - thanks to the environmentalists who didn't want to disturb the poor little things. It's disgraceful. Alligators, despite having been placed on the 'endangered species' list years ago, were not for a moment endangered.

[edsommers]

04:22 PM on 03/29/2010

Did the environmentalists buy these exotic creatures as pets?

Why not blame the irresponsible people that bought these creatures
in the first place? Why not blame the dealers that sold these creatures
to the irresponsible buyers? Why not blame the state laws that allowed
these creatures to be imported into the state?

If the "environmentalists" have any blame in this scenario,
their actions represent the least of the problem.

[fromdnorth]

10:17 PM on 03/29/2010

tHE ISSUE WAS DESTROYING THEM NOT WHO IS TO BLAME.
fIX THE PROBLEM..
hUNT THEM DOWN EVERY SUNDAY FOR SIX MONTHS...

[GirlUsingBrain]

07:01 PM on 03/29/2010

This has nothing to do with environmentalists. It's about money ... making money in the exotic pet trade.

You are right in that these animals should not be there ... but please, blame this on the people who bought these animals, then realizing they could not take care of them, let them "go".

[Forester]

02:25 PM on 03/29/2010

If that were my kid, all my good resource management thinking would disappear.

[Nomccain]

02:08 PM on 03/29/2010

Lets send Palin, Limbaugh, Beck and Hannity to Indonesia to swim in that river.

[fromdnorth]

02:48 PM on 03/29/2010

He would leave them alone out of professional courtesy...

[Merckx]

03:07 PM on 03/29/2010

Ding, ding, ding- We have a winner!

[Andrew FingerlickingGree]

03:19 PM on 03/29/2010

Fanned!!!! LOL

[smilodon1]

09:15 PM on 03/29/2010

The pollution would drive all the fish ashore.

[jeffgolin]

02:08 PM on 03/29/2010

Such creatures are Nature's National Park Rangers sent to preserve wild areas from human exploitation and destruction.

[lioness39]

03:35 PM on 03/29/2010

You nailed it!

[anothervoter]

02:01 PM on 03/29/2010

Leave it alone.

Do we have to kill every living thing on this planet?

Thanks.

[ctekin]

02:27 PM on 03/29/2010

I have absolutely no problem at all hunting a snake that ate a 13 yr old boy. I don't think that equates to "killing every living thing on this planet".

[amaboss52]

05:12 PM on 03/29/2010

My question is, did the family just move to Indonesia recently? Did they not know it could be dangerous for their kid to go swimming? The snake was doing what comes naturally, leave it alone, it was hungry and the kid was in its home.

[Daisytoo]

03:08 PM on 03/29/2010

No. Just snakes that eat children.

[amaboss52]

05:13 PM on 03/29/2010

Im pretty sure the snake didnt know he was a child. Leave it alone.

[AirViceMarshalPark]

01:53 PM on 03/29/2010

The headline should read "22 foot long...". The way it reads, now, says that the snake has 22 feet.

[pene]

02:23 PM on 03/29/2010

thank you. huffpo still needs to get literate headline writers.

[fromdnorth]

02:50 PM on 03/29/2010

When it is that large it could have anything it wants... besides pythons do have "feet"...

[MIZZOU-DMCRT-PLEXICO]

01:45 PM on 03/29/2010

Can we send Palin to find it ??

[youngblood]

02:05 PM on 03/29/2010

That is sooo FUNNY!!! ROTFL!!! Good one! Oh by the way I agree...let's send Palin to find it!

[MIZZOU-DMCRT-PLEXICO]

03:03 PM on 03/29/2010

Fanned you youngblood # 6 for the laugh..... :))

[Margo Arrowsmith]

02:09 PM on 03/29/2010

Maybe she could use it as a segment in her new reality show.

But how do you hunt a python from a helicopter? All that campoflage and no open areas to trap it in.

[MIZZOU-DMCRT-PLEXICO]

03:03 PM on 03/29/2010

Fanned you Margo #130... :))

[netzwerg]

01:41 PM on 03/29/2010

Such a enormously large Python has eaten a neighbor of mine when I was living in Cape Town. Alive! He held them as pets.

[viflyer]

02:07 PM on 03/29/2010

Pythons do NOT eat victims ALIVE. Sounds great to say it. Really creepy for the affect, but these animals WILL NOT attempt to swallow prey until they are sure it is DEAD. They can tell it is dead when the heart stops. Swallowing a live animal could injure or kill the python.