LEHIGHTON -- A little girl in Carbon County had a quite a frightening afternoon Wednesday.
Her family said a pet python sunk its teeth into the girl and sent her to a hospital.
Police in Lehighton said they are investigating the incident.
The family said the five year old has a bite mark on her chest, and the snake was killed in the process of removing it.
From the porch of their home on North 2nd Street in Lehighton, the mother of five-year-old Ariel shows where the family`s pet python bit her on her chest.
The woman, who only gave her first name, Brandi, said her daughter had the snake wrapped around her neck and when her father went to take the snake, the python struck.
“She was holding the snake. We`ve had snakes since she was born, we`ve always had snakes,” said Brandi. “And she just happened that she was messing with it, tormenting it and when he went to take the snake from her it went after her.”
According to the family, the snake bite occurred at the end of North 2nd Street when the children were being dropped off from school. They say their little girl wanted to show off the snake to her friends and that`s when the snake bit her.
Ariel`s parents said after the snake sunk its teeth in, they called police for help.
Her mother said it took little time to remove the snake, eventually having to cut the snake’s throat to get it off.
“What made it worse was she was scared and she was holding on to it so she was squeezing it and it was pushing more into her skin, so that was it,” said Brandi. “She`s already been to the hospital, she`s been treated, did x-rays, everything`s fine.”
The family said the snake was killed in the process of taking it off Ariel.
Lehighton police said they were called to the house by Michael Hoffman and said the little girl has the same last name.
They list Brandi's last name as Lehrian.
Police confirm the body of a three-foot-long python was on the porch floor when they arrived.
However for other parents here, they are very upset this snake bite occurred while their children were getting off the bus.
“I was horrified by it,” said parent Christina Bravo. “I have small children who were at the bus stop and just to know a little girl was bit in the neck by a snake that was at the bus stop, it`s really scary.”
Lehighton police said charges could be filed pending the outcome of the investigation.