Hi all,
I've been reading through this forum the past fews and have found the python vs gator debate to be quite interesting. Both sides have really good points and i just thought about throwing something else out there. I don't know if any of ya'll have bigger snakes or have handled them, etc so forgive me if i sound like a know-it-all or anything, that's not my intention, i just wanted to discuss this.
One thing that i noticed nobody has taken account for, Burmese Pythons are not aquatic and not known to be prone to water. Well, the everglades is one big damn swamp. The alligators are used to this environment and are great swimmers. I'm not taking anything away from the Burmese, they are amazing snakes and need to be respected for their size and sheer power. I just can't help but think that this particular kind of snake will have a hard time with an alligator in the water just b/c it's not really used to swimming a lot, let alone fighting an opponent capable of holding it's breath for a pretty long time and having the jaw power that it does. I still think it would be a pretty even-matched fight where the victor would all depend on the given situation (how it started, who got the first bite in, the size of each animal).
Now on to my other thought. What if the scenario was the same, except instead of a Burmese, a Green Anaconda. To me, that would make it a whole different world of who the victor would be. Anacondas are mainly aquatic, spending most of their time in shallow banks and swimming with the river current to different locations. They hunt very similar to the way an crocodilians do. They keep the head just barely above water, just enough to see what's going on and sneak up on their prey while they are taking a drink, then they pull them into the water and drown'em. The big difference to me is, Anaconda are much more fearsome than a Burmese. They are used to facing off with animals that can fight back. They're natural prey are caimans, Jaguars, and many other larger, more formidable prey items. Also something that not a lot of people know about anacondas is that they bite differently than most other snakes. They are what is sometimes referred to as "side-biters" they can not only strike in a forward motion, but they will also turn completely around, even if something has a hold of them pretty close to the head, and will bite the hell out of whatever it is. They are much quicker to fight back than most other species and bite multiple times instead of one. I'm not saying my argument is full-proof or anything, just another viewpoint. To me, if a 6 foot alligator attacked a 13 foot anaconda, u'd have one dead alligator and one full anaconda. They are so much like alligators in they're behavior....aquatic, extremely fast reflexes, style of hunting, and the fact that they are accustomed to facing off with animals like that. A full-grown caiman isn't that much different than a 6 foot alligator and anaconda's eat them all the time. I have an anaconda of my own, and speaking from experience, they are not ones to underestimate....ever. I've handles many different snakes, including every single one of the bigger variety (burmese, rock, retic, condas, etc.) and anacondas to me are by far the ones you don't ever wanna piss off. This is just my 2 cents, this is not to put alligators down or anything, i just thought this was a different scenario to consider and would be interesting to discuss.
