Oz granddad’s shock over pic of granddaughter wrapped by snake

MELBOURNE - An Australian man has revealed how he was left shocked when upon asking his daughter for a picture of his granddaughter he received one with the baby being swaddled by a snake.

Townsville businessman John Baran, whose daughter, Jenny, works at the Irwin’s Australia Zoo sanctuary on the Sunshine Coast, said he was taken aback when he saw four-month-old Lily cradled by one of the zoo’s 4m-long Burmese pythons.

“She sent me a photograph on my mobile and the snake did not stand out,” the North Queensland Newspaper quoted Baran as saying.

“I could see this cute little baby. Then someone said, that’s a bloody snake, is this for real?” he revealed.

Baran has now had the photograph sent to his computer and after the initial shock wore off, has decided the photograph is fantastic.

“I’ll put it on my (computer) screen saver,” he said.

Baran went on to say that he was sure his daughter knew what she was doing, as she has worked at Australia Zoo for 16 years and ran the attraction’s whale-watching program.

She met her husband, zookeeper Corey Cooper, at Australia Zoo.

“They just don’t have that fear of animals like normal people,” Baran said.

“They would not take unnecessary risks and in this case it was not one,” he added.

The Burmese python, which can grow to 7m, is the sixth largest snake in the world and eats mammals and other small animals. (ANI)