prehistoric mega snake

I have to admit that my friend and I share a weakness for "giant creature" movies.  Big snakes, oversize crocs, hordes of angry ravens--we'll watch them all.  (Sci-Fi channel has loads of them!)  I just saw this lovely article about a prehistoric snake that was 2500 lbs and 43 feet long.  Nice, huh? The picture (from the article) is a titanoboa's vertebra next to an anaconda's. WOW. Anacondas are big enough to eat small children.

The largest snake the world has ever known -- as long as a school bus and as heavy as a small car -- ruled tropical ecosystems only 6 million years after the demise of the fearsome Tyrannosaurus rex.

I think that's pretty cool.

18-foot python tries to eat 3-year old (animals)

A family in Las Vegas was caring for a friend's 18-foot reticulated python. The snake got loose somehow and attempted to eat the family's 3-old child. The child's mom stabbed the snake and saved the child. Sadly the snake's injuries were deemed fatal and it was executed.
Reticulated pythons are the same type that are loose in Florida and are found under people's porches and which are challenging the alligator for supremacy of the Everglades. The pythons are just doing what they are supposed to; it's people who don't think. Of course the cute little snake will grow into something huge and dangerous, and zoos don't want them, no one wants them. I worked in the pet business and I hated selling snakes. I'm not afraid of them but I don't see the allure. Stories like this make me feel sad. I don't hate the snake for trying to eat the child, and I feel bad that the snake died. There's no happy ending possible, really.
Screenprint; Image source=article source (title link goes to article).