A snake escaped from a pet shop and killed two children in the Canadian province of New Brunswick, police say. In a statement, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said they believed the reptile had strangled two boys, aged five and seven, in Campbellton.

The boys were staying overnight at a friend's apartment above the pet shop. Police said they believe the snake slipped out of its cage overnight and travelled through the ventilation. The serpent has been captured by police.

Snakes are notorious for testing every part of a terrarium tank to find a possible escape route they can exploit.

I can't quite work out though how it managed to choose the windpipe of one child and start to constrict without that child waking up and alarming the other. It's a very rare thing for a snake to attack like that. Even if they are attacking *prey* they usually bite first to get a grip before they constrict. It stinks a bit of something else to me.

So I'm not the only one who thought it sounded a bit suspect then. If the kids were both in the same room I find it hard to believe it could have got them both without raiseing enough of a comotion to either wake the other kid or someone else in the house. My second thought being, if the snake had managed to kill one then wouldn't it have started trying to eat the body?

I confess I've never owned snakes but I was very much of the impression that they killed and ate something and it would do them for quite a while rather than trying to get everything in the area.

They also like heat, which may be difficult to find in Canada.

Snake deaths now a murder investigation
Two Canadian boys killed by a python could now be a homicide

Investigations into two young Canadian brothers thought to be strangled by a python has taken a twist, with police now treating it as a possible murder.
Connor Barthe, 7, and brother Noah, 5, were killed while they slept in an apartment above an exotic pet store, but there were no screams.
It comes after the mother of the pair posted hundreds of photos of her boys taken last year, playing in and cleaning her neighbours snake cage.
Police have stepped up their inquiries, but won’t release further details until full post mortem results are known.

Snake experts have also raised questions stating pythons seeking food always bite first.
John Marais from the African Snake Bite Institute said “if it grabs a kid, you’re going to have more than enough time to scream”.
“You can’t be asleep and be bitten by a python and strangled. That’s impossible,” Mr Marais told News Limited. “You’re going to wake up instantly.”
It’s believed the non-poisonous rock python escaped its enclosure and got into the ventilation system, before slithering into the apartment where the boys were sleeping.

Knew it!