Beginning around 1993, an email and grapevine rumor circulated that a child had been playing in the ball pit at a McDonald’s Playland and had been bitten by a poisonous snake that had taken up residence among the balls. Sometimes, the incident is said to have occurred at a Burger King restaurant. Carl’s Jr. has also been cited as the location. Snakes in ball pits rumors are common, in fact, and not one has ever been verified.
What are Ball Pits?
Ball pits are large bins filled with many colored plastic balls. Kids can jump into the pits and frolic among the balls. It is a favorite area at any kid-oriented play establishment. If you’re a parent who’s taken their children to Chuck E Cheese, McDonald’s Playland, or any number of play areas, you’ll know that once they go in, it can be very difficult to get them to come out!
As soon as kids see all those colorful balls, they make a beeline. Imagine if there were poisonous snakes or other dangers lurking in those innocent-looking pits of fun?
Snakes in Ball Pits Warnings
Imagine if your child got bitten by a snake while having some innocent fun in a ball pit; a place that seemed inherently safe? A couple of different email versions of this needle story have been circulated, with the location being in Sugarland or Midland Texas. Certainly, email or article like the following would make even the most sensible parent at least a bit concerned.
Email Example
Subject: You should know this!!
This is a true story…
About a week or so ago, a mother took her eager 3-year-old son to Burger King for lunch. After they ate their lunch the mother said that the son could go and play on the playground for awhile since he ate all his lunch.
She watched as the boy played in the tunnels, slide and in the ball-pit. The boy played for about 10 minutes when he started to whimper slightly.
The mother asks the boy what had happened and he merely replied, “Hurt mommy.” The mother assumed that the little boy had banged his elbow or something while playing.
They left to return home. A half an hour after they were home, the mother noticed some big red welts on the little boys arms and legs. Not being able to figure out what they were, the mother started to look at them closer. Could be red ant bites…she did not know.
An hour later, the little boy died. Come to find out, when returning to Burger King to see if there were red ants in the play area, in case the little boy had an allergic reaction. Burger King employees and herself discovered that there was a family of baby rattlesnakes living underneath the balls in the ball-pit area. She has since found out that this happens more frequently than not. The snakes will crawl into the ball pit because it is dark and warm in there. She knows for a fact that another death has occurred because of this in South Carolina. Please use caution when letting any children play in an outside play area of a fast food restaurant, this could happen anywhere. Burger Kings are now building their play areas inside the buildings for a safer environment.
Notice this particular email was about Burger King. So, is this true? Was a child ever bitten by a snake in the ball pit of a Burger King? These messages too on a life of their own. Later emails claimed that not only were snakes biting children in ball pits, but they were also being stabbed by discarded hypodermic syringes. Reports of McDonald’s ball pit deaths, or any other ball pit-related deaths, are a modern myth. It is certainly hard for parents to ignore such tales. We worry about our kids.
Hypodermic Syringes in Ball Pits
After the first snakes in ball pits claims began circulating, the syringe claims were added and then combined with the snakes claim. Soon, McDonald’s, Chuck E Cheese’s, and other places were named.
An email from a supposed parent in Sugarland claimed his son, Kevin Archer, after playing in a McDonald’s ball pit, developed a welt on his buttocks, and indicated that part of a needle (something like a splinter) must have been there and that the son later died of a heroin overdose. According to this message, a hypodermic syringe that had been discarded into the ball pit. Those syringes were claimed to be used drug syringes that had been thrown into the ball pit by people shooting up, it would seem, in the play area. Again, there is no record of this ever happening.
DONT IGNORE THIS BECAUSE ITS A LONG ARTICLE PLEASE!! PLEASE
READ!!
McDonalds, Chuck E Cheese, Discovery Zone… All places with ball pits in the children’s play area. One of my sons lost his watch, and was very upset. We dug and dug in those balls, trying to find his watch. Instead, we found vomit, food, feces, and other stuff I do not want to discuss. I went to the manager and raised hell. Come to find out, the ball pit is only cleaned out once a month. I have doubts that it is even done that often. My kids will never play in another ball pit. Some of you might not be parents, but you may have nieces, nephews, grandchildren, or friends with children. This will pertain to you too. As I read the following, my heart sank. I urge each and every one of you to pass this on to as many people as you can. I cannot stress how important this is!
Hi. My name is Lauren Archer, my son is Kevin.
On October 2nd, 1999 I took my only son to McDonald’s for his 3rd birthday. After he finished lunch, I allowed him to play in the ball pit. When he started whining later on, I asked him what was wrong, he pointed to the back of his pull-up and simply said “Mommy, it hurts.” I couldn’t find anything wrong with him at that time. I bathed him when we got home, and it was at that point when I found a welt on his left buttock. Upon investigating, it seemed as if there was something like a splinter under the welt. I made an appointment to see the doctor the next day, but soon he started vomiting and shaking, then his eyes rolled back into his head. From there, we went to the emergency room. He died later that night. It turned out that the welt on his buttock was the tip of a hypodermic needle that had broken off inside. The autopsy revealed that Kevin had died from a heroin overdose. The next week, the police removed the balls from the ball pit. There was rotten food, several hypodermic needles: some full, some used; knives, half-eaten candy, diapers, feces, and the stench of urine.
(You can find the article on Kevin Archer in the October 10,1999 issue of the Houston Chronicle.)
Don’t think it’s just McDonald’s either. A little boy had been playing in a ball pit @ a Burger King & started complaining of his legs hurting. He later died too. He was found to have snake bites all over his legs & buttocks. When they cleaned the ball pit they found that there was a copperhead’s nest in the ball pit. He had suffered numerous bites from a very poisonous snake. Repost this if it scares the crap out of you!! Repost this if you care about kids!! Please forward this to all loving mothers, fathers and anyone who loves and cares for children!! What has this world come to?? If a child is not safe in a child’s play area then where??
AND FYI:
In Florida and other places on the East Coast a group of people are putting HIV/AIDS infected and filled needles underneath gas pump handles, so when someone reaches to pick it up and put gas in their car, they get stabbed with it. 16 people have been a victim of this crime so far and 10 tested HIV positive. Instead of posting that stupid crap about how your love life will suck for years to come of you don’t re-post, post this. It’s important to inform people, even if you don’t drive, a family member might, and what if they were next?
Analyzing the Emails
A second read reveals the problem with the first message shown, above. Like most such hoaxes, it just goes too far. We are supposed to believe that not only did this happen, but that it is a common occurrence. If it were, you would have seen it on 20/20 or some other investigative report or read about it in many newspaper articles, both in print and on the web. And somebody would have been sued by now!
As for the second version, poor Lauren Archer and poor Kevin! The beginning is perfectly plausible and I have no trouble believing that a parent could have found such things in a ball pit.
However, this is just a more detailed version of the first, naming names, adding information, and even bringing in the snake story. Although such detailed information would seem to lend credence, notice the air of desperation.
Not only was a 3-year-old child killed but it gets worse! And not only that but…HIV! Snakes and hypodermic needles in ball pits aren’t enough to scare us, it seems, we need needles infected with HIV hidden under gas pumps too. Another version of the email has the story being reported in the Midland Chronicle. For good measure, when circulating the message, why not add in a bit about urine, feces, and any other nasty thing you can think of.
No Records of Snakes In Ball Pits
No, there is no record of such an incident. Nor are there any records of snakes having been spotted in ball pits. Ball pits get a lot of action. A lot of rambunctious, agitating, noisy, and joyous action. It is extremely unlikely that a snake would want to hang out in one. They don’t like to be around people, especially noisily frolicking people.
Even Playland itself would not be very inviting to a snake. The ball pit, as well, would likely be cold, and somewhat damp, both things that snakes do not like. I suppose it is possible that a snake could wander/slither its way into a ball pit, and then not be able to find its way back out, but there is no reason to think this a favorite snake destination, and no evidence to support it ever happening. But other things besides snakes could be in among those balls. Hypodermic syringes make more sense than snakes in ball pits.
The Newspapers Named Don’t Exist
Some of the rumors, centered in Midland, as I mentioned, cite a newspaper called the Midland Chronicle or Midrand Chronicle, neither of which exist, nor have any such stories ever appeared in the Houston Chronicle.
Both the Houston Chronicle and the Midland Reporter-Telegram continued to receive inquiries about this story and both reported that it was a hoax and that no such death had ever occurred. 1Emery, David. The Needle in the Ball Pit.” About.com. Web. 12 Sept. 2014. <https://urbanlegends.about.com/library/blneedle.htm>.,2 Emery, David. “Snakes in the Ball Pit.” About.com. Web. 12 Sept. 2014. <https://urbanlegends.about.com/library/blsnakes.htm>.
Sure, hypodermic syringes can end up in a ball pit, although I, personally, have found no documented reference to such ever being found. Still, with all those kids jumping in and out of ball pits every day, and with irresponsible adults, at times, accompanying those kids, there are bound to be other things in ball pits that could be dangerous.
Cleanliness is the Biggest Problem in Ball Pits
Perhaps not surprisingly, the only truth to any of these messages involve the part about urine, feces, and the fact the ball pits are never, or seldom cleaned or sanitized. Kids can be little germ factories. Bacterial contamination, and to some extent, viral contamination could cause a child visiting a ball pit to become sick.
Do you think that McDonald’s and Burger King routinely clean those ball pits? This would entail cleaning and disinfecting the hundreds and hundreds of balls, not to mention cleaning the walls and bottom of the pit itself. If this happens, how often does it happen? How often are the balls replaced, or partially replaced? It is not a stretch to imagine that ball pits really are nasty places. And dangerous things have been found in them.
Kids pee in ball pits. Of course, they do. They urinate in swimming pools as well. So, yes, expect that some or a lot of those balls, and the pit itself, will be coated with some urine. Where there is urine, there is sometimes feces. Yes, shit happens in ball pits. Sometimes in the form of discarded diapers. Sometimes outside of the diapers.
Sharp pointy things are bound to show up, like eating utensils and other items. That could be quite dangerous for the kids jumping in and dancing about. Ball pits are not entirely benign places, by any means.
While, perhaps, we do not need to be paranoid about letting our kids play in these pits, we are right to be cautious. It is recommended to have your child wash his hands, arms, and face after exiting a ball pit.
Urban Legends of This Sort are Common
It seems that the ball pit stories are just updated versions of urban legends long associated with places children go to have fun that we assume are safe. Carnivals used to be the usual location, and there have been rumors of snakes in the merry-go-round, etc.
Basically, a child goes on a ride, gets a bite or a sting, and then later dies. When water slides started appearing, there began a rumor of razor blades in the slide. Can you imagine? I can still remember those legends from when I was a child.
Burger King, in a statement dated October 23, 1998, vehemently denied any such incident having occurred at any of their restaurants, and stated that they would “vigorously pursue any and all remedies available to us against the originator(s) to the fullest extent allowed by law.”
Besides, Burger King, McDonald’s, Carls, Jr., Chuck E Cheese, and Discovery Zone have been mentioned in similar legends. (Additional Sources: 3Brunvand, Jan Harold. Encyclopedia of Urban Legends, Updated and Expanded Edition. Sanata Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2012.,4Genge, Ngaire. Urban Legends: The As-complete-as-one-could-be Guide to Modern Myths. New York: Three Rivers, 2000.
