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49 foot reticulated found in indonesia. almost weighs 1000 pounds. http://www.local6.com/news/2729078/detail.html

Why am I having trouble believing this article?

I'm also skeptical. My first thought is that the actual measurements were made in metric units, and somebody messed up when converting them to English units.

FWIW, CNN also has picked up the story. It's in their "offbeat news" section.
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MichaelB

Yeah, I'm not saying it's impossible, just highly improbable. More likely it's an intentional hoax, or as you said, a miscalculation. The fact that it eats 2 or 3 dogs a month doesn't help, either..I'm not even sure why they included that little tidbit. It could be St. Bernards or it could be Chihuahuas. If they said it eats 2 or 3 St. Bernards or 2 or 3 Neopolitan Mastiffs a month, then I would say "OK...that's a pretty big snake." Just the fact that it eats dogs is a real big "So what?". So do a lot of people in that region of the world.

I'd like to see some good clean photos with something included for reliable scale. Maybe the snake stretched out with an object of verifiable dimensions for scale. The problem with that is that anyone with rudimentary skills in Photoshop can create that sort of photo without much heartburn.

I think you hit the nail on the head. A 25 foot reticulated python would probably need an antelope a month or the equivalent.

A 50 foot snake would need more than twice that (bulk increases at a greater rate than simply length.)

Perhaps the Indonesians just "paced out" the snake and they are shorter than occidentals, hence they gave the size as 49 of their paces, which the newspaper then translated into actual English Feet then converted to equivalent meters. As to weight, they might have been just guessing. How does a zoo like that weigh an animal that size anyway?? SOmething doesn't quite click right here.

I would sooner believe in a 49 foot Anaconda than a 49 foot reticulated python.

Gee guys.... Ya don't beleave what ya read in da paper.......(lol). Would love to see the live critter on display (stay tuned).....Or if (it died mysteriously) I would like to see if it's stitched like some of those old "record" Rattlesnakes. Perhaps it's been feeding on BIGFOOT????
Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

Well.....As predicted the snake died mysteriously....Over eating? The interesting part is that now they are only claiming 8 meters for a length.......
Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

are you joking

Yeah...26 feet sounds a little more realistic. What are they now claiming for a weight?

Ok...This is getting more complicated. The first report said the snake was from Sumatra moved to Java and was 49 feet and is being held in a zoo. The second report says Caught in the Cameron Highlands of Malaysia and was 8m and died after eating two goats (no weight, girth 200 cm). I'm confused...Two different snakes?
Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

Haven't heard the second story - got a link to that?

Here's some pics (there are 5 - you have to scroll through them).

Doesn't look as big as they are saying to me...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/photo_gallery/3356945.stm
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1.0 Ball Python "Aragorn"
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa "Gimli"
0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer "Kira"

No possibility. I don't even think it's 30 feet long. Look at the last photo in that series where you have some humans in there for perspective. If that snake was nearly 50 feet long, it's head would be twice that size, at least.

yahoo is reporting 48 feet 8 inches and weighing 983 pounds

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20031230/ap_on_re_as/indonesia_giant_snake_1

Notice that the villagers and so-called dignitaries who make this extraordinary claim, supply NO pictures of the snake with or near ANY type of measuring device or references for verification. Instead, the camera seems to have been deliberately placed at angles to enlarge the snake's appearance. Also, how were measurements arrived at? Again, we have no mention of the devices, tools, methodology or processes by which these conclusions were made.

Michael N. Schroeder