Irwin girl strangled by family's pet python

An 8 1/2-year-old Irwin girl whose family kept five snakes was fighting for her life Wednesday night after a 10-foot-long Burmese python she was playing with wrapped itself around her neck and constricted until she lost consciousness.

Amber Mountain, the daughter of Robert and Marcy Mountain of 309 Oak St., was in critical condition in the intensive care unit of Children's Hospital, Pittsburgh, a hospital spokeswoman said last night.

The girl was unconscious when an Irwin Medic 201 ambulance crew arrived on the scene, Irwin police said. She was placed on either a ventilator or respirator at the Jeannette District Memorial Hospital before being flown to Children's Hospital by a medical helicopter, police Chief John Karasek said.

Irwin Patrolman Joseph Pocsatko said Amber was choked by the family's pet python after it pushed through a screen and escaped from its wooden cage in a second-floor bedroom of their duplex. The girl was playing with the snake when it choked her, Pocsatko said.

Marcy Mountain, 30, found her daughter in the doorway of the kitchen with the snake coiled around her neck, police said. She removed the snake and called for an ambulance at 11:14 a.m., the Westmoreland County Department of Public Safety reported.

Police did not know how long the snake had a stranglehold on the girl's neck before the mother discovered the child. Pocsatko said last night that police still are investigating the circumstances surrounding the accident. They had not interviewed Marcy Mountain, he said.

Chad Mower, Irwin Medic 201 EMS captain, said paramedics performed cardio-pulmonary resuscitation on Amber. Mower declined to say whether the ambulance crew was able to revive the girl at the house or on the trip to the hospital.

The mother was 'pretty hysterical' when the ambulance crew arrived, Mower said. The crew did not know how long the girl had been unconscious, nor did they know details about the accident, Mower said.

Irwin police and Westmoreland County detectives investigated the incident and questioned Robert Mountain, 31, who was at work at the time. After police left his home, Robert Mountain refused comment to news reporters gathered outside.

The Burmese python that attacked Amber was removed from the house about 45 minutes after the incident by North Huntingdon Officer James Novak, who Pocsatko said has experience with reptiles. The snake was taken to Petpourri, a pet store on Route 30 in North Huntingdon, and later was moved to an undisclosed location by police.

Police did not take the other four snakes in the house because they are pets and the couple needs no license to keep them, Pocsatko said. The family kept another Burmese python, a jungle carpet python, a reticulate python and an Argentine boa constrictor, police said.

The accident shook up the quiet neighborhood, which is a block east of Irwin's business district.

A neighbor, who wished to remain anonymous, said the Mountain family kept to themselves. He said he occasionally saw Robert Mountain outside the house with the snakes.

Another neighbor, Ed Gubanich of 301 Fourth St., said that Amber is a quiet girl.

Gubanich, whose beauty salon is adjacent to the Mountains' home, said he saw Marcy Mountain walking along the street with a snake draped around her shoulders and torso. At other times, Marcy Mountain had the snake wrapped around her shoulders as she walked Amber a few blocks to the school bus stop.

'The little girl wasn't afraid of snakes because (she was) raised with them,' Gubanich said.