Missouri Officer Pulls Constricting Python Off Woman's Arm

A Mount Vernon, Mo., police officer is being hailed as a hero for calmly removing a 5-foot python that sank its teeth into a woman’s arm and began to squeeze tightly Friday.

Cpl. Shaun Cobb told the Springfield News-Leader it was the first “python call” he’s ever had.

“I walked into the house and saw a female with a large ball python coiled up on her arm,” Cobb recalled. “There was discoloration on her arm from the snake’s constriction — it was squeezing down as hard as it could.”

The snake’s owner, Leadeana Oetker, said the 20-year-old python named Baby bit her arm as she reached into its cage to move it to a separate feeding container.