2 boys killed by python died from asphyxiation
Posted Aug 7, 2013 03:24:31 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The RCMP say preliminary results from autopsies performed on two boys who were killed by an African rock python in Campbellton, N.B., show they died from asphyxiation.
The python had escaped before, according to a report.
Bry Loyst, the curator of the Indian River Reptile Zoo near Peterborough, Ont., who is familiar with the snake in question, told the Toronto Sun this wasn’t the first time this python had made its way into the ventilation system, calling it an accident waiting to happen.
Noah and Connor Barthe, aged four-and-a-half and six, were found dead Monday in an apartment above Reptile Ocean, an exotic pet store in Campbellton, N.B.
Police said the 45-kilogram (100-pound), 4.3-metre African rock python escaped its enclosure at the pet store, slithered through a ventilation system above and fell through a ceiling into the living room where they slept.
Meanwhile a reptile expert said the python may have been lured by the scent of the children because they had been playing with farm animals hours earlier.
Paul Goulet, the founder and co-owner of Little Ray’s Reptile Zoo in Ottawa, said snakes such as the one that police believe killed the boys don’t visually recognize their prey.
Goulet said if the boys smelled like the animals they were playing with, it could serve as an explanation for the attack.
Their great uncle, Dave Rose, said the two brothers spent Sunday playing at a farm with animals like llamas, goats and horses.
A vigil was held for the two brothers Wednesday evening.
The snake has been euthanized, police said.
— With reports from The Canadian Press
