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[Normal Joe]

EUGENE, Ore.  —  A pet store owner is calling a police sergeant a hero for saving her from the coils of a 12-foot Burmese python doing its best to turn her into a meal.

Teresa Rossiter had reached into a cage Thursday to show the huge snake to a customer when it bit her right hand and coiled around her left arm to throw her to the floor.

A friend who happened to be at the store kept the snake off her neck and body while police were called. And when Sgt. Ryan Nelson rushed into the store, he was ready to kill the snake with his knife.

But Rossiter asked him to spare the expensive python, so Nelson put on gloves and pried open the snake's mouth to free Rossiter's hand.

Two responders from the Eugene Fire Department helped unwrap the snake, which was eventually returned to its cage.

Rossiter called Nelson a hero.

"He was the bravest guy ever. He went way above and beyond the call of duty," she told The Oregonian.

Rossiter suffered dozens of puncture wounds, but she, the sergeant and the python were fine.

[christylaroy]

That is soooooo creapy!!!!  I hope they let the new owner know about this before they buy it....I know snakes aren't the most cuddly pets, but if that were a dog that tried to attack a person they would put it to sleep, wouldn't they?

[Boylanjl]

That is soooooo creapy!!!!  I hope they let the new owner know about this before they buy it....I know snakes aren't the most cuddly pets, but if that were a dog that tried to attack a person they would put it to sleep, wouldn't they?

Sounds like they need t feed the snake a little more.  And I bet you are right about it if it were a dog.

[the nosh]

i wonder if she gave him a little....money for saving her life.

[Greg Chamberlain]

Not that I would be caught dead in a pet store (they all smell awfull), but if a snake ever bit me I don't think it is out of the question for me to decapitate the creature with my pocket knife.

[Normal Joe]

Snakes are good to eat too