Bernie loves burritos

Bernie, the 130lb albino Burmese python, that is. Burrito, the neighbor lady's black kitty-cat, that is. Bernie's owner, who kept the snake in a pen in his backyard, had just given the giant snake two rabbits to kill and eat. While Bernie was wolfing (heh heh) down unfortunate rabbit #1, rabbit #2 made a run for it. Br'er Rabbit furiously dug a hole under the pen and escaped into the briar patch, or somewhere. The snake followed. Bernie failed to locate Br'er Rabbit but did find Burrito. Wrong place, wrong time - sorry there, kitty.

Another neighbor paid a visit to Burrito's soon-to-be-grieving owner and saw the snake devouring Burrito.

Salvatore says the snake tried to eat the cat head first, but couldn't do it. "So it moved around and started eating the cat tail first," she describes.

She says the snake had already killed the cat by the time her friend, Dianne Turner, came home from work around five o'clock.

Too late, Diane.

Turner called the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, and deputies along with investigators from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, responded to the scene.

Salvatore says authorities had told Turner she could not kill the snake. "So all we could do was stand there and watch that snake eat the cat," Salvatore says.

The snake's owner has been issued a warning by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

As for Turner, she's lost her cherished furry friend. "She loved that cat," Salvatore says, "she really did."

Lawsuit to follow.

TAGS: Burmese python, cat, lunch