6 Year old Girl fights python to save kitten

Courier Mail ^ | 3/27/03 | bedolido

[bedolido]

A SIX-year-old girl became the first female to receive the RSPCA's humane award for saving her kitten from a predatory python.

Marlie Coleman did not think twice about taking on the scrub python when it wrapped its jaws around her kitten Sooty in their Cairns backyard earlier this year.

The sharp-toothed python let go of the kitten, but attached itself to Marlie's lip, hanging on until her mother heard the screams and shook it off.

[bedolido]

Future Special Forces candidate.

[strela]

That vicious little hellspawn, disturbing the balance of nature and taking the very food out of the mouth of one of God's creatures! I say shoot her!

(sarcasm off)

[Thinkin' Gal]

Darwin has her address.

[Lee Heggy]

Good Lord! For a minute I thought this happened in rural New York or something. 'Hanging from her lip"!? She's one tough little cookie.

[Kiss Me Hardy]

They breed 'em tough in Australia, even the little shielas like this one.

[Calpernia]

Woa!

>>Marlie still bears the scars of her ordeal, while Sooty recovered from minor injuries and the non-venomous python slipped away, never to be seen again.

Scrub pythons grow to three metres in Cairns and are known to defend themselves by biting with their long, sharp teeth, said Michael O'Brien, wildlife curator at Wild World - The Tropical Zoo.

That's a naughty snake! (spoken in the words of Steve Irwin)

Brave Girl!

[green team 1999]

Sydney - A six-year-old girl who battled a python more than twice her size to save her kitten's life has become the first female honoured for her bravery by Australia's animal welfare agency.

Marlie Coleman grabbed the python earlier this year when it wrapped its jaws around her kitten, Sooty, outside their home in the northeastern city of Cairns, said the Australia branch of Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA).

The snake released Sooty, but sank its teeth into Marlie's lip, hanging on until her mother heard her screams and shook it off, the agency said.

"Snake trying to eat Sooty", was all Marlie could say as she stood bleeding and sobbing with the snake latched on to her face, said her mother, Shakira.

Marlie's only concern on the way to hospital after the attack was for the kitten, said the RSPCA's local chief, Mark Townend.

Two firsts for Marlie

"The RSPCA does not want to see children place themselves in danger. However, this little girl, who was only five at the time, showed exceptional bravery," said Townend.

"Marlie performed a selfless and courageous act on behalf of her kitten friend and she has captured the spirit of animal welfare."

The RSPCA did not give the size of the snake, which escaped, but a spokesperson for the organisation said adult pythons in the Cairns area measured between 2.5m and 3m.

Marlie was presented with the RSPCA's Humane Award at her school on Thursday, becoming the first female and the youngest person to get it.

The RSPCA Australia Humane Award recognises people who have shown courage and risked their personal safety to rescue an animal.

Five men have won the award since it was created in Australia in 1990 for feats ranging from dragging a dog from a burning house to being hit by a car while rescuing a koala.

[billbears]

bump!! Glad to see the kitten's okay too

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Australia: Home to two kinds of dangerous crocodiles, a dozen shark attacks and several deaths each year, attacks by 5 foot tall cassowary birds (with 4 inch stilettolike claws), nine of the world's ten most venomous snakes, 2000 types of nasty spiders, including ten of the most venomous in the world, the deadly blue ringed stinging octopus and the dealiest jellyfish in the world, the box jelly.
Have a nice vacation.

[green team 1999]

thanks for the posting,

that`s the spirit,you don`t give up,you keep trying,brave little girl.

[TADSLOS]

Crikey!

[freeper2003]

http://www.exn.ca/news/Images/20010903-steve-headshot3.jpg

[cweese]

...who asked for your opinion?

[Bigg Red]

...who asked for your opinion?

Lighten up!

[Sister_T]

2000 types of spiders?!

Thanks! I know I WON'T be going to Australia! I hate spiders!

Oh, yeah. Brave little girl!

[Britton J Wingfield]

ping!

[AxelPaulsenJr]

Scrub pythons grow to three metres in Cairns and are known to defend themselves by biting with their long, sharp teeth, said Michael O'Brien, wildlife curator at Wild World - The Tropical Zoo.

They prey upon warm-blooded animals such as chickens, small dogs and cats

Oh, go back to defending Al-Jazeera.

[KneelBeforeZod]

I like the dog saves other dog from shark story better.

[N. Theknow]

She did this unilaterally?