Dad defends his daughter’s friendship with a 16-foot python
Emi and Cher are best friends. They even like to have tea parties together.
Some people just don’t understand Cher or the friendship but, as usual, that’s just because they don’t know her and don’t understand a situation that doesn’t look like their own. They let prejudices get in the way.
Cher was introduced to little Emi by Emi’s father Ed Taoka.
“They’re just very used to each other’s company. When I introduced Emi to Cher, Emi was about 2-years-old and Cher was quite a tiny snake,” Taoka told The Dodo in a video interview (that you can view beneath the story).
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Yes, that’s right, Cher is a snake.
A Lavender Motley Sunfire Tiger reticulated python, to be exact.
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Today, Cher is 16-feet long and quite a stunning specimen.
She’s very gentle and social – especially with her friend Emi. After all, they’ve grown up together.
Cher has just grown a little faster.
“My daughter would just hold Cher in her hand at the time, but now Cher’s so big she couldn’t even lift her up.”
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Of course, Taoka had to let these two build trust before they became so close.
“As a parent, I had to make sure that Cher was tame and sociable to be held,” he said.
Of course, as a parent and a snake-owner, it was Taoka’s responsibility to teach them both how to be respectful of one another and to socialize Cher to humans (especially little ones) properly.
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“I spent every day, multiple times a day, with Cher, just getting her used to human interaction. On the other front, I needed to make sure my daughter genuinely knew how to be gentle. As soon as she understood what she need to do, no grabbing no poking, just being gentle and respectful that’s all I needed form her, was to behave how I behave. And she proved that to me.”
And, no, she won’t eat Emi any more than the family dog is going to eat your child.
So chill.
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That said, Emi is not allowed to feed Cher until she’s 16. As with all pets, there are rules for interactions.
There is another snake in the house as well – a reticulated python named Sonny that Emi also plays with – it’s just that Cher and Emi seem to be one another’s favorites.
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The two watch TV together, play together, take naps, and there’s even some homework help involved.
People’s poor reactions to the pair’s friendship are really more of a reflection of them than of this family.
Taoka has done more than most to foster respect and safety between his daughter and the family pet instead of just assuming it will work out or waiting to correct inappropriate behavior like so many people do with cats and dogs.
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“No one gets to see the good nature of these animals and what they’re really like when they’re not being stressed out,” Taoka told The Dodo. “As soon as a large constrictor is shown with anything, it’s always a bad negative perception. The snakes haven’t bitten us, the cats have bitten us and scratched us. Cher is probably the most gentle snake I’ve ever owned.”
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This young girl is pretty lucky when you think about it. She won’t grow up with the fear of snakes that many of us have. It most cases, we’re simply terrified of something that’s probably a lot more scared of us.
“She gets to experience the true giants of the species and she has a very rare and unique relationship with them,” says dad.
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It might be strange to see at first, but the photos of these two tell the lovely story of their friendship.
And you can see more from this lovely dad and daughter and their entire snake family on Instagram at @sonny_cher_retics.
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But first, be sure to scroll down below to see these two besties interact with one another and hear more from Emi’s dad.
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Source: @sonny_cher_retics via Instagram, The Dodo via Facebook