Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This is more of a general eel question than one of a direct connection to Aquariums.
Basically I saw this movie a long time ago when a bird tried to catch and eel and it just slip through the birds body, several times!

My friends tell me this can't be true so I wonder now, is this true? Is it possible for an eel to slip through the body of a bird trying to eat it? And if it is, is there any video evidence to back this up with? I have been searching youtube to no avail and also google and i'm starting to think that I dreamt the whole thing.

Any response appreciated

Thank you in advance //Jonas

That would depend on a lot of factors, such as what species of eel, is the eel living after the digestion process, was the eel a baby, juvenile, or adult, also what kind of bird ate the eel? Depending on what kind of bird it was that ate the eel, it could be possible, but I don't know of any birds that eat eels specifically. Eels usually hide in crevices so they are hidden, the bird would theoretically have to be able to dive or at least swim. There are birds that can do this, but I don't know what kind of bird you saw in the movie. Digestion also takes quite a while for some birds, so the probablity of an eel lasting that long without water to breathe is unlikely. The bird's digestive tract (that contains acid) would probably cause the eel's fragile slime coat to deteriorate to the point it would die.
I'm assuming that since the bird tried to eat the eel several times within a short period that the eel was bypassing the digestive tract process, which is impossible.

Hope this helps.
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Phishie
Site Coordinator

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