Ophidiophobia. Sound like anything you know? Perhaps it's something you might
have. The fear of snakes is something that many people can relate to, and even if you don't necessarily faint at the sight of one, you might be guilty of the occasional shudder or cringe. Let's put it this way, there's a reason why a person might call themselves "a cat person" or "a dog person", but the phrase "a snake person" would, more often than not, conjure up a picture of a snake charmer in people's minds. There are people who keep the reptiles as pets, you might say. But how many of these people ride on their pet snakes piggy-back style, sleep with their snakes, and take baths with their snake?
None?
Then you might find these next couple of videos pre-tty interesting...
here's one I found on the National Geographic website...
and here's another video about the same story.
7 year old Kuon Samnang lives in the province of Kandal in Cambodia. When Samnang was but a 3-month old baby, a python that was, at the time, 20 inches long showed up at his family's doorstep. Samnang's father had attempted 3 times, when Samnang was still a baby, to return the snake to the forest, but the snake kept returning to the child's side! Since then, the family has named it Chamren (which means lucky in Kmer). After some searching on the internet, I found some information on Samnang's best friend and his kind...
"Native to the jungles and grassy marshes of Southeast Asia, Burmese
pythons are among the largest snakes on Earth. They are capable of
reaching 23 feet (7 meters) or more in length and weighing up to 200
pounds (90 kilograms) with a girth as big as a telephone pole...Burmese pythons are carnivores, surviving primarily on small mammals
and birds. They have poor eyesight, and stalk prey using chemical
receptors in their tongues and heat-sensors along the jaws. They kill
by constriction, grasping a victim with their sharp teeth, coiling
their bodies around the animal, and squeezing until it suffocates. They
have stretchy ligaments in their jaws that allow them to swallow all
their food whole."
What struck me when I came across these videos was how the boy was interacting with the 19 ft. long reptile, that was inherently a wild, carnivorous animal, with such a level of comfort and a total lack of inhibition, comparable to how one would interact with a puppy! Out of curiousity, I ran more searches for records of human-python interaction, and here are some articles that I found.
Here's one about a
5 metre long python that reportedly "stalked" this family's pet dog before proceeding to devour it.
And here's another about
a man who was crushed to death by his family's 14 ft. pet python.Evidently (and somewhat unsurprisingly), there aren't exactly a whole lot of "My boy and the snake have been living very happily since he was born 7 years ago. They are the same age." stories out there. So what's the reason behind this strange, seemingly unnatural relationship between a 19 ft. python and a 7 year old boy?! Would one deem this a case of
unnatural domestication?
The video mentions how Chamren started living with the boy and his family since both the boy and the snake were very young, that the both of them are the same age. Eversince, the snake has been raised on a diet that is similar to that of the boy's. Instead of rats and frogs, which are natural prey to pythons, Chamren eats chickens and ducks that have been slaughtered beforehand. (The family believes that eating live animals will bring the snake bad karma.) During their 7 years (and counting) of friendship, Samneng would spend his days playing with his pet, hugging the snake, riding on its back, teaching it tricks and even sleeping with it.
Chemren has never attempted to attack Samneng and his family.
Why?! Because Chamren was the family's pet? Why, then, was the man killed by his pet python according to the msnbc article above? Well, one can never be sure, I feel. But in my opinion, it could have something to do with the fact that Chamren was taken in as a pet at a very young age and has spent most of her life with the boy and his family. Thus, adapting to the diet that was incongruous with that of her species as well as learning how to behave and interact in a non-threatening way with humans would not have proven to be as much of a challenge compared to the snake in the msnbc article, who was only adopted as a pet 5 months before the incident.
However, among the overwhelming number of comments given in response to the video of Chamren and Samneng on YouTube, conflicting opinions have been expressed. While some viewers think the video is a good example of how wild animals can be tamed if treated properly, others think it is only a matter of time before something awful happens if Chamren is not released into the wild. After all, that snake is not growing any smaller. A snake of its size could easily overpower a fullgrown adult if it wanted to, let alone a 7-year old kid who is riding on its back or snuggling up to it, sound asleep.
what do you think?
Perhaps the Kuon Clan chose to name the snake "Lucky" for a good reason - it sure looks like they're going to be needing a whole load of it.
For yet another example of wild animals in unlikely, domesticated situations, read about this
barhopping kangaroo!
SourcesVideos:"Boy's best friend: Cambodian python - 05 Feb 08," by AlJazeeraEnglish. http://www.youtube.com, 5 Feb 2008.
"Video: Boy Plays With Giant Python," National Geographic, 28 Sep 2007.
Articles:
"Photo in the News: Kangaroo Goes Barhopping," by Victoria Gilman. http://news.nationalgeographic.com, 11 Aug 2005.
"Monster Python Eats Pet," by Sophia Browne. http://cairns.com.au, 27 Feb 2007.
"Man Crushed to Death by Family's Pet Python," The Associated Press. http://www.msnbc.msn.com, 5 Sep 2006.
Pictures:"Burmese Pythons Mating," by Joe McDonald. http://animals.nationalgeographic.com.
Websites:http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/burmese-python.html