Snakes are not welcome in the land of the Agricoli. Ever since hearing at a very young age the story of the monster that bit our mother, a child at the time, while she was looking for blueberries, and leaving a scar that we saw with our own young eyes, we have NOT liked the slithery serpent…..or any legless reptile with glistening skin, forked tongue, and a fondness for dark places. Phobic…..yes. Interested in addressing the cause of the phobia….no.

It didn’t help matters that a "friend" hid a snake in our pack on a trip to the mountains many, many years ago….when we were  "experimenting" with life and were thus in a slightly altered state, a condition that turned to horror when the monster was detected.

So it was with a certain amount of disbelief that we read this report:

A police officer used a Taser to subdue a python that had wrapped
itself around a Pennsylvania man’s arm and would not let go.   

Steve
Crilly, 47, was feeding a rat to the eight-foot-long albino Burmese
python, which belongs to his daughter, when it when it bit his left
hand and wrapped tightly around his left arm Wednesday night, Uniontown
patrolman Ray Miller said.

"The snake was on his arm and was
eating his hand," Miller told the Herald-Standard of Uniontown for
Friday’s editions. Crilly "was very calm, considering there was a good
bit of blood," he said.

In an effort to free the man without
permanently harming the snake, Miller said he shot the animal with his
Taser, a gun that sends an electric shock through wired darts. The
snake immediately went limp and released its grip.

Crilly was
treated by paramedics at the scene for what Miller called "a nasty cut"
on his hand. The snake was uninjured and remained at the home, Miller
said. Crilly did not immediately return a message left at his home
Thursday by The Associated Press.

Miller said the incident was unique, but not especially scary. "Snakes don’t bother me," he said.

The snake remained at the home.  Are you kidding me? Having tasted the fruit, what’s to stop the monster from slithering up to the bedroom for a midnight snack….with no policeman around with a Taser to keep things honest. I don’t get it.  Call me crazy…….

H/T: DefenseTech