Police Taser Python To Free Man

[matcom]

<snip>

UNIONTOWN, Pa. --A police officer used a Taser to subdue a python that had wrapped itself around a 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.

http://www.boston.com/news/odd/articles/2006/12/01/police_use_taser_on_python_to_free_man?mode=PF