Python found in South Dade with its mouth sewn shut. Could it be Vodou?

miamiherald.com

When a call came in about a large python in the backyard of a South Miami-Dade home, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Lt. Scott Mullin expected to find a full-grown snake that could potentially be a challenge for him.

Instead, what Mullin found in the yard of the home in the 15000 block of Southwest 25th Terrace was a baby ball python that was no more than 14 inches long.

And adding to his confusion about the “frantic” call Sunday morning: The snake had its mouth sewn shut...

Some suggested the act could have been related to Vodou or Santeria.

Nelson Hernandez, the owner of a botanica and pet shop, Viejo Lazaro in Flagami, said the practice of sewing a python’s mouth shut is closely related to a dark sect of Vodou and a desire to put a curse on someone.

The snake, which some religions consider most related to the devil because of the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, is often the animal of choice for dark magic.

Vodou practitioners will write a person’s name on a piece of paper, gather other items related to that person and insert them into the snake and sew its mouth shut. Mullin said nothing was found in the snake, but it’s possible they could have disintegrated.

“It creates a state of agony in the animal,” Hernandez said. “It’s so that the human [who is being cursed] feels dragged, agonized, desperate.

“It’s very dark witchcraft.”