Crushed to death by his pet python?
A GARDENER has been found dead next to his pet python amid fears that the reptile killed him.
Dan Brandon, 31, was discovered at the house where he lived with his parents and an array of exotic animals.
One of his snakes was found near his body, seemingly having escaped from its pen.
A post-mortem examination found Mr Brandon had suffocated to death, a coroner heard yesterday.
Pythons, which are not venomous, squeeze their prey to death using their powerful coils to deprive the victim of oxygen. Police are investigating whether the landscape gardener’s pet was to blame for his death.
If it was, experts believe it would be the first time a python has killed a human in Britain.
Mr Brandon’s body was found by his parents, Derek and Barbara, in the bedroom where he kept all his pet snakes.
The wildlife lover’s social media profiles show photos of him with snakes draped over his body, including an enormous yellow Burmese python.
Coroner Andrew Bradley said there would be a full inquest into the tragedy at Church Crookham, Hampshire, on August 25. Mr Brandon’s friend John Cottrell has set up two Just Giving web pages to raise money for charities the World Wildlife Fund and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in his memory. Mr Cottrell said: ‘He was obsessed with snakes, spiders, birds and all wildlife.
‘We have struggled when looking for photos for his funeral to find any when he isn’t holding a spider, snake, small bird, toad, slow worm, hedgehog, feeding a fox, stroking cattle, befriending a cat or dog … so these charities seemed the perfect choice.
‘In memory of you, Dan, who we will all miss so much.’
A spokesman for Surrey and Hampshire Reptile Rescue said last night: ‘There’s never been a case of a python killing someone in Britain before. They only kill what they eat.’
Pythons, which live in the tropical areas of Africa and Asia, swallow their prey whole once they have suffocated it. The snakes, which can live up to 50 years, hunt animals including pigs, monkeys, dogs, cats and chickens, but they have been known to attack humans when threatened.
Bigger prey can keep the giant snakes satisfied for months and some pythons only need to eat between four and five times a year, though pet snakes that are fed mice and rats need to eat more often.
A man was killed by a python in Indonesia earlier this year. Two boys died in Canada after one of the snakes escaped from a pet shop in 2013.
Mr Brandon’s inquest was adjourned until November 22.
‘Obsessed with snakes’