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Mom defends decision to let snake bite her baby

SEBRING, FL (WCMH) – A Florida woman is under fire for allowing a snake to bite her one-year-old daughter, then posting the incident on her Facebook page.

Now, the mother is speaking out.

“My intent was never to hurt her,” the woman tells CNN affiliate WFTS. “It had bitten me and my son and didn’t leave a mark, several times. So, I thought it was a good opportunity to introduce her without actually getting hurt.”

WFTS did not identify her, as she has not been charged with a crime.

The Highland County Sheriff’s Office is investigating what happened.

In the video, the one-year-old reaches into a plastic box-then, the snake strikes.

She says the baby was not hurt, only scared of the snake’s movement.

“His teeth are too small to actually puncture the skin,” the woman says. “So he’s very harmless.”

The family lives on an isolated area nine miles on the outskirts of Sebring, Florida. The mother says it’s important for her children to learn how to handle all kinds of wildlife, and learn what to stay away from.

“People are too sensitive and don’t bother to ask why,” she says. “They just think that I hurt my child intentionally, which, the people that know me know that I would never hurt my children.”

Growing up, the woman says she learned how to handle reptiles while going out on animal service calls with her father, a Jupiter police officer. Now, she trusts her methods are teaching her children a valuable lesson.

“And she’s not scared of snakes but she doesn’t want to touch them, either. So, that was my goal.”

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