A boy was recovering yesterday after being held down by a gang of yobs and bitten by a terrifying new weapon - a snake.
The 4ft-long green reptile sank its fangs into the 14-year-old's right arm, leaving two deep puncture marks.
The helpless lad had been pinned to the ground in a park by his tormentors, who also made racist comments. They then ran off, leaving him shaking with fear.
Police were called and an officer showed the boy internet pictures of snakes on his mobile so he could identify the kind that bit him.
Cops checked with zoo experts who said it sounded like a python - which is not venomous.
An ambulance rushed the lad to Bristol's Frenchay Hospital where he was treated for the injury, shock and breathing problems.
Yesterday two boys aged 16 and 17 were being interviewed by police about the incident.
Cops were treating it as a racially motivated assault. The lad - believed to be called Dan and of Afro-Caribbean descent - was back at home in Patchway, Bristol, following the attack in nearby Bradley Stoke.
A boy aged nine who had been playing with Dan and lives on his street witnessed the attack.
He said: "I was playing with my friends when a group of older boys came up to us.
"They pushed a 4ft-long snake towards Dan and it wrapped itself around his arm before biting him."
The nine-year-old's father, who did not wish to be identified, said: "My son was absolutely terrified.
"I'm not letting him play out on his own until police find out what happened. I want to know where these young kids got these dangerous snakes from."
Incident support officer Michael Howells said: "Although the patient was suffering breathing difficulties after the attack, this was probably due to panic rather than a reaction to the bite.
"I would probably be panicky if that happened to me."
He added: "In order to try and identify the type of snake I Googled 'snakes' on my mobile to show the patient.
"He was reasonably sure he could identify the type, so I sent the image to our control room."
Pythons are commonly kept as pets but, if agitated or unwell, can be aggressive - especially if not kept at the right temperature or in a big enough enclosure. They can grow up to 15 feet in length and have even been known to eat small humans in south-east Asia.
Glen Fairweather, head of reptiles at Colchester Zoo, Essex, explained how the boy had a lucky escape. He said: "Pythons are just nasty. If he was bitten on the face where the tissue is soft a python's teeth can rip so badly he could have had hideous facial injuries.
"Their teeth grip into the prey so it can't escape. You can't pull back so humans get horrific injuries."
Avon and Somerset police are appealing for witnesses to Saturday afternoon's attack in Merryweather Close at around 3.20pm.
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