Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Do any of you know how many humans get killed each year by wild Burmese pythons in their natural habitat?
Zuzana
www.rexano.org

Exactly three.

Naw, just kidding. I don't know if it has been reported with Burmese pythons. Google time. And do not believe every story either as absolute fact.
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Mark

It's really impossible to be able to get accurate statistics from "third-world" countries, but I do know of a documented report of a fourteen year old indonesian boy being eaten years ago. I've seen some "staged" stuff on the internet too, allegedly of humans being consumed, but many of these are hoaxes made up by someone for entertaining "shock" value. The prey are usually very large animals inside the snake.

I'm sure they have also killed a fair share of people in the past, even if they were not able to consume them. It's hard to get updated information from deep within a sparsely populated jungle, there's plenty of vines, but not much in the way of phone-lines..LOL!

~Doug

~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

the Python molurus group in their natural habitat are extremely rare, probably less than one per decade. The figure is probably even less than that now that most of the larger individuals have been killed. Most of the very few human fatalities in the past have been attributed to Python sebae and Python reticulatus, and the total world wide is likely well under one per year for all the big four constrictors put together.

Kelly

Try to get a copy of this book:

"Tales of Giant Snakes - A Historical Natural History of Anacondas and Pythons" byJohn C. Murphy & Robert W. Henderson, 1997 Krieger publishing Company.

This amazing book should be in the library of every herpetologist and giant snake fan. The authors have complied an amazing volume of giant snake lore, legends, and facts, by persuing historical accounts to original sources wherever possible.

Among topics addressed are your question regarding human fatalities (and consumption).

Another excellent book is "Men and Snakes", published sometime in the early '80s. unfortunately, I can't find my copy and don't remember the author(s) name(s). This book reproduces a grainy but grizzly photo of what was supposedly a human corpse recovered from a P. sebae.

As for the photos floating around the Net, I have looked at them myself. The recently documented case of P. recticulata attempting to consume an adult human is authentic. Other photos, which purport to show the capture and disection of a large P. recticulata that contained an adult man are controversial. Looking at them, I concluded that, if fakes, they are really good fakes. I am not convinced that any sane human would stick half his body (head first!) into the gut of a dead python just for a joke.

Good luck with your research.

John D

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I am so not lesdysxic!

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A fair amount of the information I have used to make my conclusions come from the two books you referenced. "Men and Snakes" was originally published in 1965 and was authored by Ramona and Desmond Morris. Both books show the general trend that most of the reports made about human fatalities by large wild boids are of highly questionable authenticity.

Kelly

I agree with you...the vast majority of human deaths are anecdotal and sensationalized. P. molorus would seem to be least likely of the Big Four to attack a human, in view of the factors discussed above.

Humans as prey is even harder to document, which is why I find the man-inside-the-Retic photos so interesting. If they are fake, how was the guy inside the snake able to breath? Who's idea was it to stage such a grisly hoax? Exactly how drunk were they? If they are real, why hasn't someone come foward with corroberating evidence? Its all very mysterious.

The fact remains that giant snakes, and all snakes for that matter, have a lot more to fear from Man, than vice versa.

Regards,

John D.
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I am so not lesdysxic!

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1.0 Bairds Ratsnake
0.1 Desert Kingsnake
1.1 Eastern Kingsnakes

If they are fake, how was the guy inside the snake able to breath? Who's idea was it to stage such a grisly hoax? Exactly how drunk were they? If they are real, why hasn't someone come foward with corroberating evidence? Its all very mysterious.

I read somewhere a year or two ago when that batch of picts surfaced again that the man was dead and his wife and someone set it up because she wanted the attention or some such silliness. If it is the series I saw it includes the man with his arms all askew.....hard to envision if he were swallowed.
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Sonya

I'm not mean. You're just a sissy.
Happy Bunny

>>I read somewhere a year or two ago when that batch of picts surfaced again that the man was dead and his wife and someone set it up because she wanted the attention or some such silliness...

OMG! That's even sicker than the live-man-crawls-inside-dead-python hoax theory.

It still begs the question though...how does one insert a man's corpse inside a dead python? The details of manipulating two limp, dead bodies, both at least 125 to 150 lbs, boggle the mind.

If anything, the man-really-swallowed-by-python theory seems a little less bizaare; but, human nature being what it is,the wife-sticks-dead-husband-inside-dead-python-for-attention theory seems to be just as plausible.

Bon Appetite!

John D
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I am so not lesdysxic!

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1.0 Bairds Ratsnake
0.1 Desert Kingsnake
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Oh My God!

Where did the '70s go?!?

Seems I've misplaced an entire decade...

johnd
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I am so not lesdysxic!

0.1 Creamsicle Cornsake
1.0 Bairds Ratsnake
0.1 Desert Kingsnake
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>>"I am not convinced that any sane human would stick half his body (head first!) into the gut of a dead python just for a joke."

You've obviously never met anybody like some of my friends...
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-Jacob

Why do people say .02 cents??? So, what, your opinion is only worth a 50th of a cent?

And, on that note, who said sanity was a requirement? (sorry for double post.)
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-Jacob

Why do people say .02 cents??? So, what, your opinion is only worth a 50th of a cent?

I don't have any info on the original question, but I'll comment on a few of the replies:

"Who would stick their head in a dead python as a joke?" Watch an episode of Jackass.

"How could they breathe?" How long does it take to take a photo? I can hold my breath around 2 minutes (and I'm 40).

"Wouldn't it be a pain to stuff a dead body into a dead python?" Very difficult for one person, probably not bad for 4 or 5.

Stuffing the dead husband in a python for attention. Unusual and creative, but not the least bit surprising.
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What goes up must come down...unless it exceeds escape velocity.

LOL
>>Stuffing the dead husband in a python for attention. Unusual and creative, but not the least bit surprising.

Or, maybe it was something nefarious? Like wifie and her buds rubbed out Hubby, and had a convienient python to blame.

I any case, its mysterious and gross.

For my part, I would be rooting for the python.

John D
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I am so not lesdysxic!

0.1 Creamsicle Cornsake
1.0 Bairds Ratsnake
0.1 Desert Kingsnake
1.1 Eastern Kingsnakes