Father Lets His Young Daughters Swim With A Giant Burmese Python

Swimming pools can be dangerous places. While fun places to spend some time with the family, play a game of Marco Polo or do laps, there are inherent risks that go along with swimming. Actually, about 10 people die every day from swimming in a pool in the United States.

Most of the time, the only real danger of swimming pools is drowning. That risk is even more significant for children who should only be swimming when adults are nearby to supervise. The danger lurking in the Wallace’s family pool is much different than what you would normally imagine.

Corey Wallace is just a normal California dad that enjoys taking his kids for a swim in their family pool. That family includes an 8-year-old pet snake named Sumatra, and it’s not just any kind of snake, it’s a giant albino Burmese Python. If you’re not familiar with that type of snake, they’re huge.

On this sunny afternoon, he decided to post a video of his two daughters swimming along with Sumatra in the pool. People were shocked by the footage, and they were quick to share their opinions on social media.

Many of the comments centered around Corey being an irresponsible father, but Cory was quick to reply with his viewpoint of why he not being irresponsible in the least.

“Sumatra has been to more than 500 birthday parties and many schools,” Corey Wallace explained. “She’s been around kids since she was a baby, and she’s never killed anything. She even likes our dogs and cats!”

The facts agree and disagree with Wallace. Burmese Pythons aren’t venomous, but they are especially strong snakes that can constrict their prey until they kill them. While there haven’t been any human deaths from wild Burmese Pythons in Florida, there have been fatalities in the US from captive snakes.

“All known constrictor snake fatalities that have taken place in the United States are from snakes in captivity,” claims the United States Geological Survey. “These are split between deaths of snake owners who were intentionally interacting with their pet and deaths of small children or infants in homes where a snake was being kept captive as a pet.”

That indicates that while Sumatra might not be extremely dangerous, there is potential danger considering that other pet constrictor snakes in the US have killed their owners and children before.

Is the danger in having a large snake comparable to the danger of having a large dog? It could be argued that dogs have killed their masters and children before as well, so why don’t people show as much outrage when they see a child playing with a big dog?

Check out the full video of the incident in question below and decide for yourself.

Do you think it’s safe to have a snake like Sumatra for a pet? Would you allow your children to swim in a pool with a giant snake like that? Let us know in the comments below!