SEBRING, Fla. — A Florida woman allowed a snake to bite her 1-year-old daughter to “introduce” the child to snakes and teach her a lesson, according to WFTS.
Video originally posted to the woman’s Facebook page showed the red rat snake biting the child on the hand. The mother has since deleted the video.
“It had bitten me and my son and didn’t leave a mark, several times,” she told WFTS, Tampa’s ABC Action News. The woman, who was not identified by the television station, said she felt it was a “good opportunity” to introduce the child to snakes “without actually getting hurt.”
“People are too sensitive,” she told WFTS. “They just think that I hurt my child intentionally. The people who know me know that I would never hurt my children.”
The woman said she learned how to handle reptiles at a young age by helping her father, a local police officer, when he responded to animal service calls.
Deputies in Highlands County are investigating the incident, according to the report.