Coming face to face with a 12 foot python would make even a hardened snake lover apprehensive, but this little girl seems unfazed by the potentially dangerous snake as it wriggles beside her.
Astonishing footage shows the little girl, 5, patting and stroking the reticulated yellow python Cher as she periscopes alongside her in a narrow alleyway.
It is not clear where the footage was filmed but the girl’s father frequently posts video of his daughter interacting with his two pet pythons Sonny and Cher.
Ed Taoka posts dozens of videos on Facebook and YouTube which have gone viral fetching thousands of views including one of his daughter calmly watching TV as the snake is wrapped around her.
Taoka’s YouTube channel’s bio reads, ‘Snakes are not blood thirsty monsters. They are often wrongly portrayed by the media to cause panic and paranoia.
‘These videos highlight the extremely placid nature of what actually happens looking after well kept reptiles in a domestic setting.
‘We have two, very gentle and calm, captive bred Reticulated pythons called Sonny and Cher.’
The python can be seen wriggling beside the little girl as she pats and strokes it’s head. Social media users condemned the father for allowing his daughter near a potentially deadly snake
‘These videos highlight the extremely placid nature of what actually happens looking after well kept reptiles in a domestic setting.’
Under the video Taoka wrote: ‘Cher has done this a few times but I’ve never been able to capture it. had no idea she could Periscope so far!’
While some users found the footage ‘fascinating’ with one writing: ‘What a beautiful video and Retic and sight to behold,’ others were more sceptical and criticized Taoka for putting his daughter in harms way.
One wrote: ‘And when you come home and the python has killed your child, remember it is a python and that is what pythons do.’
While another posted: ‘Okay, so can somebody explain to me how this is safe?’
Although nonvenomous, cases of people killed by reticulated pythons have been documented – with the serpent being able to open its jaws wide enough to swallow a human.
Ed Taoka posts dozens of videos on Facebook and YouTube which have gone viral fetching thousands of views
There are many reports of pythons choking and then eating family pets, children and even grown adults in places like Asia, Nepal and Australia.
In January of this year a 31-year-old snake enthusiast was found dead at his home in Hampshire after he was asphyxiated by his 8-foot pet python he had kept since it was a young.
The family of reptile handler Dan Brandon, who had ten other snakes and 12 tarantulas, referred to the animal as ‘his baby’, an inquest heard.