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More Bad Publicity For Snakes!: |
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Jimpklop Senior Member Joined: 23 May 2006 No. of posts: 200  View other posts by Jimpklop |
Posted: 09 Feb 2007 Hi All, I'm seeing more and more bad publicity for snakes, found this one early today! SAO PAULO (Reuters) - A 66-year-old Brazilian man wrestled with a 15-foot (5-metre) anaconda for nearly half an hour to free his grandson from the snake's crushing death grip, local media reported on Friday.
Matheus Pereira de Araujo, 8, would likely be dead inside the belly of the 80 pound (35 kg) anaconda if his grandfather had not heard his screams for help, zoologists said.
Anacondas, the biggest snakes in the world, live in swamps and rivers. They kill prey by asphyxiation or drowning.
When the snake struck Araujo, who lives in the world's third largest metropolis of Sao Paulo, he was playing with a cousin on Wednesday in a creek bed on his grandfather's farm 310 miles (500 km) from the city in a town called Cosmorama.
"It was very fast. I didn't have time to do anything," the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper quoted Araujo as saying. "My grandfather is a hero -- I was so afraid of dying."
Joaquim Pereira was driving home when he heard the screams of Matheus and his cousin Flavio, 8, who ran to get help.
Pereira jumped into the ravine and grappled with the snake, which started coiling around him as well.
"I started fighting the animal and tried to loosen its grip on the boy's neck but the snake was too strong," Pereira told the Bom Dia newspaper of Sao Jose do Rio Preto.
Pereira then attacked it with stones and a machete.
"I kept hitting it with the machete but it felt like a rubber tyre, it wouldn't tear," he said.
He killed it after a long struggle to free the boy, who needed 21 stitches on his chest where the snake bit him.
"It was the most terrible scene that I've seen in my life," Pereira said. "It was totally coiled around him while he was screaming that he was dying."
Senator Eduardo Suplicy said Pereira should be honoured by the Brazilian government for heroism. * He battled with it for 30mins I DON'T THINK SO SOME HOW!* Would an anaconda be able to fight for this length of time, i thought stamina was a big downfall of all snakes as they only have one lung? ThanksIm Craving Adder's(www.jimpklop.moonfruit.com) |
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Alan Hyde Senior Member Joined: 17 Apr 2003 No. of posts: 1416  View other posts by Alan Hyde |
Posted: 09 Feb 2007 Hi Jim' Yup, the constrictors can hold on for a very long time. Having kept many large constrictors I can tell you that if you wiggle the prey item while the snake is constricting it will continue to add pressure for a very long time indeed. When a large boid has caught a potential meal it is survival and half an hour isn't unrealistic at all Cheers, Al O-> O+> |
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tim hamlett Senior Member Joined: 17 Dec 2006 No. of posts: 572  View other posts by tim hamlett |
Posted: 09 Feb 2007 hi i'm no expert but i'm sure i read somewhere that boas, pythons and their relatives, being the most primative snakes, have retained some of the anatomical features of thier ancestors. one of these is that most of them still have two functioning lungs. i have no idea whether this applies to anacondas or not, or even if it is true at all but i'm sure there is someone out there who will know for sure. tim |
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tim hamlett Senior Member Joined: 17 Dec 2006 No. of posts: 572 View other posts by tim hamlett |
Posted: 10 Feb 2007 about the article itself...it's a difficult one isn't it. on the one hand it's understandable that a story about a giant snake trying to kill and eat a boy would freak some people out, but on the other hand, had the story been written by a snake it would probably read something like: anaconda brutally hacked to death by a maniacal hominid while trying to enjoy a leisurely lunch! tim |
- More Bad Publicity For Snakes! |