Yes it is somewhat ironic. I do think that a snake or something closer to a long, tube-like, legless animal will be more suitable. I have absolutely no idea how animals are chosen in O'Reilly.
Generally, with both subtlety and humour, judging by how often the O'Reilly Python books appear with tasty little rabbits and rodents on them...
-Peter -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
