Snake In The Grass Pet Python Slithers Into Park, Charms Kids

Kids loved him. Adults kept their distance.

Boots, a 14-foot Burmese python, acomplished what most parents had trouble doing on a sunny Friday afternoon at Independence Point: he got the kids out of the water.

“It’s pretty cool,” said 10-year-old Tyler Stensland, who followed the snake as it slithered through the grass.

Stensland’s 5-year-old brother, Gary Thomas, was among the scores of other children who took a break from swimming to pet the snake.

Most adults who happened by kept their interest to wide-eyed amazement from the sidewalk. Heidi Stensland, Tyler and Gary’s mother, was one of the few grownups who knelt to pet the 100-pound creature.

Snake owner Mike Crothers, 31, said he brings his pet to the park for several hours at a time on nice days. Boots seemed to love the attention, rearing his head several times for a whiff of his admirers.

At home, the 3-1/2-year-old snake lives in a 4-by-4-by-8-foot cage complete with wading pool, fake trees and logs to climb on. Meal time, which happens every month and a half, consists of three live rabbits.

The snake, which will be about 24 feet long and weigh nearly 300 pounds when it’s fully grown, is cheaper to feed than a dog or cat.

“And it doesn’t bark or claw at the screen either,” Crothers said.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo