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I totally disagree with the animal planet on the Anaconda

Rottenweiler9 Jun 13, 2003 10:30 PM

During that big sqeeze they say that an anaconda will not try to eat somthing to big for it. Ya whatever, just because one day the guy walked by and it did not try to eat him and then it tried on the female. Sorry don't beleive it a snake will strike at anything it thinks is food when it is hungry (in the wild). I dont think a 150 pound male or in fact me I am 230 is a challenge for a 20, even a 15ft anaconda, hungry at that, because it is waiting to eat its first meal in awhile. What are your thoughts on that.

Replies (5)

herptechdesign Jun 14, 2003 03:02 AM

I agree and disagree. A snake wont eat something too big for it but, it will kill it and try.
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Crochuntermyhero Jun 14, 2003 11:58 AM

i disagree and agree as well, i know that anaconda's are among the smartest snakes so i could see how they could sence if a prey item is too big for it, for example i tried giving my 3 foot yellow a large rat ( to prove this theory) and she wouldnt touch it, then i offered a small rat and she took it without hesitation, maybe its just coincidence but it worked here in captivity. makes sence that it'd happen the same way in captivity as well.. Not sure if the rats being f/t had anything to do with it, but i can't see how it would either

just my 2 cents..

dfr Jun 14, 2003 12:58 PM

When you start thinking any big constrictor is "smart", even for a snake, it's time to get rid of it and start keeping Guppies. Some are more or less aggressive or calm than others, that's all. They act and react strictly by instinct. Also, their spinal cord is semi-autonomous from the rest of their central nervous system ( their brain ), so when committed, they constrict until the victim's activity stops. When the feeding instinct is triggered, they are likely to constrict, however tame they are. When that happens, they don't know who you are, or how long you've been friends. When the adrenalin is pumping, their strength is unbelievable. No matter how big you are, if a large constrictor gets you around the neck, and you're alone, you are done. Sort of like a motorcycle or a gun, when you start having too much fun, and forget to be scared, you and those with you are at risk.
Darwin awards are only awarded posthumously.

THIS YEAR'S DARWIN AWARDS

Hard to believe, but another year has passed...For those who don't know
it,
the Darwin Awards are awarded every year to the person(s) who died in the stupidest way, thus enhancing the gene pool by their
absence.

NOMINEE No.1: [San Jose Mercury News]: An unidentified man, using a
shotgun
like a club to break a former girlfriend's windshield, accidentally shot

himself to death when the gun discharged, blowing a hole in his gut.

NOMINEE No.2: [Kalamazoo Gazette] James Burns, 34, (a mechanic) of
Alamo,
Mich. was killed in March as he was trying to repair what police
describe as
a "farm type truck". Burns got a friend to drive the truck on a highway

while Burns hung underneath so that he could ascertain the source of a
troubling noise. Burns clothes caught on something, however, and the
other
man found Burns "wrapped in the drive shaft".

NOMINEE No.3: [Hickory Daily Record] Ken Charles Barger, 47,
accidentally
shot himself to death in December in Newton, NC Awakening to the sound
of a
ringing telephone beside his bed, he reached for the phone but grabbed
instead a Smith & Wesson .38 Special, which discharged when he drew it
to
his ear.

NOMINEE No.4: [UPI, Toronto] Police said a lawyer demonstrating the
safety
of windows in a downtown Toronto skyscraper crashed through a pane with
his
shoulder and plunged 24 floors to his death. A police spokesman said
Garry
Hoy, 39, fell into the courtyard of the Toronto Dominion Bank Tower
early
Friday evening as he was explaining the strength of the building's
windows to
visiting law students. Hoy previously has conducted demonstration of
window
strength according to police reports. Peter Lawyers, managing partner
of
the firm Holden Day Wilson, told the Toronto Sun newspaper that Hoy was
"one of
the best and brightest members of the 200-man association".

NOMINEE No.5: [Bloomsburg News Service] A terrible diet and room with no

ventilation are being blamed for the death of a man who was killed by
his
own gas. There was no mark on his body but an autopsy showed large
amounts of
methane gas in his system. His diet had consisted primarily of beans
and
cabbage (and a couple of other things). It was just the right
combination
of foods. It appears that the man died in his sleep from breathing the
poisonous cloud that was hanging over his bed. Had he been outside or
had
his windows been opened, it wouldn't have been fatal. But the man was
shut
up in his near airtight bedroom. According to the article, "He was a
big
man with a huge capacity for creating this deadly gas". Three of the
rescuers
got sick and one was hospitalized.

NOMINEE No.6: [The News of the Weird.] Michael Anderson Godwin made news
of
the Weird posthumously. He had spent several years awaiting South
Carolina's electric chair on a murder conviction before having his
sentence reduced to
life in prison. Whilst sitting on a metal toilet in his cell and
attempting
to fix his small TV set, he bit into a wire and was electrocuted.

NOMINEE NO.7: [The Indianapolis Star]. "A cigarette lighter may have
triggered a fatal explosion in Dunkirk, Indiana. A Jay County man using
a
cigarette lighter to check the barrel of a muzzleloader was killed
Monday
night when the weapon discharged in his face", sheriff's investigators
said,
Gregory David Pryor, 19, died in his parents' rural Dunkirk home about
11:30
PM. Investigators said Pryor was cleaning a 54-caliber muzzleloader that
had
not been firing properly. He was using the lighter to look into the
barrel
when the gunpowder ignited.

NOMINEE No.8: [Reuters, Mississauga, Ontario] A man cleaning a bird
feeder
on the balcony of his condominium apartment in this Toronto suburb
slipped and
fell 23 stories to his death. Stefan Macko, 55, was standing on a
wheeled
chair when the accident occurred, said Inspector D'Arcy Honer of the
Peel
regional police. "It appears the chair moved and he went over the
balcony",
Honer said.

NOMINEE No.9: (honorable mention) Arkansas Democrat Gazette] Two local men were seriously
injured when their pickup truck left the road and struck a tree near
Cotton Patch on
State Highway 38 early Monday morning. Woodruff County deputy Dovey
Snyder
reported the accident shortly after midnight Monday. Thurston Poole,
33, of Des Arc
and Billy Ray Wallis, 38, of Little Rock are listed in serious condition
at Baptist Medical
Center. The accident occurred as the two men were returning to Des Arc
after a
frog-gigging trip.

On an overcast Sunday night, Poole's pickup truck headlights
malfunctioned.
The two men concluded that the headlight fuse on the older model truck
had burned out. As a replacement fuse was not available, Wallis noticed
that the .22
caliber bullet from his pistol fit perfectly into the fuse box next to
the steering
wheel column. Upon inserting the bullet, the headlights again began to
operate properly and the two men proceeded on eastbound toward the White

River Bridge.

After traveling approximately 20 miles and just before
crossing the river, the bullet apparently overheated, discharged and
struck
Poole in the right testicle. The vehicle swerved sharply to the right
exiting the pavement and striking a tree. Poole suffered only minor cuts
and
abrasions from the accident, but will require surgery to repair the
other
wound. Wallis sustained a broken clavicle and was treated and released.

"Thank God we weren't on that bridge when Thurston shot his balls off
or we
might both be dead", stated Wallis.

"I've been a trooper for ten years in this part of the world, but this
is a first for me.
I can't believe that those two would admit how this accident happened",
said Snyder.
Upon being notified of the wreck, Lavinia, Poole's wife, asked how many
frogs the men
had caught and did anyone get them from the truck.

There was a story in the news some time ago about a Burm keeper who took his pet to the pet store with him to show the snake while buying a rabbit for the snake's dinner. On the way home, the Burm got too big a whiff of the rabbit and constricted. When found, the Burm had eaten the rabbit, then curled up on his owner's still warm corpse for a nice after dinner nap.

Good luck!
-----

To Buddhist hot dog vendor. "Make me one with everything."

1snakeman Jun 14, 2003 02:14 PM

l

flboy21283 Jun 15, 2003 09:10 AM

I think I heard something bout the burm story... there was one I believe in NY or NJ where a guy brought home a chicken for his burm and even before he got it into the cage the burm had gotten a hold of him instead and killed him right there. It's cuz of these people that We can no longer have large boids in some states. eh... you would think some of these pet stores would stop selling these huge snakes. There's one in the area I live in that has a tank full of baby burms, some huge burms for sale, and a tank with several baby wild caught green anacondas. Yup, they're SOOO cute...right now. =)

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