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View Full Version : Python Bursts After Trying to Eat Gator



Phat Matt
10-06-2005, 05:26 PM
MIAMI - The alligator has some foreign competition at the top of the Everglades food chain, and the results of the struggle are horror-movie messy.
A 13-foot Burmese python recently burst after it apparently tried to swallow a live, six-foot alligator whole, authorities said.
The incident has heightened biologists' fears that the nonnative snakes could threaten a host of other animal species in the Everglades.
"It means nothing in the Everglades is safe from pythons, a top-down predator," said Frank Mazzotti, a University of Florida wildlife professor.
Over the years, many pythons have been abandoned in the Everglades by pet owners.
The gory evidence of the latest gator-python encounter — the fourth documented in the past three years — was discovered and photographed last week by a helicopter pilot and wildlife researcher.
The snake was found with the gator's hindquarters protruding from its midsection. Mazzotti said the alligator may have clawed at the python's stomach as the snake tried to digest it.
In previous incidents, the alligator won or the battle was an apparent draw.
"There had been some hope that alligators can control Burmese pythons," Mazzotti said. "This indicates to me it's going to be an even draw. Sometimes alligators are going to win and sometimes the python will win."
It is unknown how many pythons are competing with the thousands of alligators in the Everglades, but at least 150 have been captured in the past two years, said Joe Wasilewski, a wildlife biologist and crocodile tracker.
Pythons could threaten many smaller species that conservationists are trying to protect, including other reptiles, otters, squirrels, woodstorks and sparrows, Mazzotti said.
Wasilewski said a 10- or 20-foot python also could pose a risk to an unwary human, especially a child. He added, however, "I don't think this is an imminent threat. This is not a `Be afraid, be very afraid' situation.'"
http://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.yimg.com/p/ap/20051005/capt.mh10310051654.gator_python__mh103.jpg

JetBoatRich
10-06-2005, 05:29 PM
The Gator needed a hug :supp:
That is a big snake :supp:
http://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.yimg.com/p/ap/20051005/capt.mh10310051654.gator_python__mh103.jpg

Wonderboy
10-06-2005, 05:31 PM
Re-post (http://www2.***boat.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94225) :D

Phat Matt
10-06-2005, 05:47 PM
Re-post (http://www2.***boat.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94225) :D
I didn't see it on the first page. :squiggle:

Wonderboy
10-06-2005, 05:49 PM
I didn't see it on the first page. :squiggle:
LOL. It happens.

Debbolas
10-06-2005, 06:32 PM
gross :yuk:

HOSS
10-07-2005, 05:03 AM
Now thats bull sheet. The internet is amazing.

Wet Dream
10-07-2005, 05:25 AM
Now thats bull sheet. The internet is amazing.
Sorry Hoss, this one is real. Check it on Snopes (http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/snakegator.asp)

MagicMtnDan
10-07-2005, 05:55 AM
Yeah, re-post (http://www2.***boat.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94225) :D

Old Texan
10-07-2005, 06:11 AM
Looks like a draw. :idea: :D

Stoneman
10-07-2005, 06:32 AM
I could get some nice shoes, and suitcases from that... :jawdrop:

HOSS
10-07-2005, 07:08 AM
Sorry Hoss, this one is real. Check it on Snopes (http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/snakegator.asp)
Wanna bet. First off a burmese (sp) python gets no where near that size. Second, the mouth of the python, although large and lower jaw becomes detached, still could not possibly fit the gators head in its mouth. The python could not possibly eat the gator unless it was dead. Gator is way too strong. Trust me! If the gator was dead then how did it rip the insides of the snake? If you believe this I got swamp land inside of New Orleans for sale. But it ain`t cheap.

HOSS
10-07-2005, 07:11 AM
Just realized you saw it on Snopes.com. Its gotta be real. The internet,,,its number 1 use is still for jerking off.

MagicMtnDan
10-07-2005, 07:26 AM
Wanna bet. First off a burmese (sp) python gets no where near that size. Second, the mouth of the python, although large and lower jaw becomes detached, still could not possibly fit the gators head in its mouth. The python could not possibly eat the gator unless it was dead. Gator is way too strong. Trust me! If the gator was dead then how did it rip the insides of the snake? If you believe this I got swamp land inside of New Orleans for sale. But it ain`t cheap.
OK Hoss, so the gator was dead. The snake still tried to eat it and it died trying :D

riverracerx
10-07-2005, 08:27 AM
Sometimes that is how I feel after a big meal. :rolleyes:

Phat Matt
10-07-2005, 08:38 AM
Wanna bet. First off a burmese (sp) python gets no where near that size. Second, the mouth of the python, although large and lower jaw becomes detached, still could not possibly fit the gators head in its mouth. The python could not possibly eat the gator unless it was dead. Gator is way too strong. Trust me! If the gator was dead then how did it rip the insides of the snake? If you believe this I got swamp land inside of New Orleans for sale. But it ain`t cheap.
It was also on the news last night. A ranger saw it from his helicopter and landed to snap the pics. They said the problem is people letting go of their snakes when they get to big to handle. They had more pics on the news. It's real. Sorry. :)

rrrr
10-07-2005, 08:50 AM
Looks like you can see the gator's pokey-up eyes further down the snake's back.
Burrrrrrrp! :eat:

HOSS
10-07-2005, 02:02 PM
It was also on the news last night. A ranger saw it from his helicopter and landed to snap the pics. They said the problem is people letting go of their snakes when they get to big to handle. They had more pics on the news. It's real. Sorry. :)
Saw it on CNN also with the Chopper next to it. It ain`t real. And I ain`t sorry. Look at you deek. Thats real small. Sorry.

Phat Matt
10-07-2005, 04:21 PM
Saw it on CNN also with the Chopper next to it. It ain`t real. And I ain`t sorry. Look at you deek. Thats real small. Sorry.
I guess you are one of those people who think the moon landing was fake too. :rolleyes:
I wasn't aware the AP likes to start chain letters. :D
BTW, I didn't say you were sorry.

olbiezer
10-07-2005, 07:45 PM
ya know i do see hoss's point.....first of all a python doesent eat live things.....it strangles em to death first just to keep em from doing what this gator is supposed to have done......it does seem kinda strange to me.......also a 6 ft gator isent all that of a bad ass but a 13 ft snake? its sounds a bit fishie to me as there has to be easyer pray for a big snake to get then a dinosour like a gator.......

JetBoatRich
10-08-2005, 04:12 AM
ya know i do see hoss's point.....first of all a python doesent eat live things.....it strangles em to death first just to keep em from doing what this gator is supposed to have done......it does seem kinda strange to me.......also a 6 ft gator isent all that of a bad ass but a 13 ft snake? its sounds a bit fishie to me as there has to be easyer pray for a big snake to get then a dinosour like a gator.......
It does seem a gator's skin would be a little rough going down :confused:

HOSS
10-08-2005, 04:50 AM
Impossible to digest more like it. Hell, pythons don`t get that big. Boa now maybe but a python,,,,no way.

Havasu Hangin'
10-08-2005, 05:53 AM
Impossible to digest more like it. Hell, pythons don`t get that big. Boa now maybe but a python,,,,no way.
Your right, Hoss. That alligator hopped on a plane to South America, and captured that snake as a pet. Then, when he flew home back to the swamp (with the snake in one of those doggy-carriers), he was very disappointed to learn that the snake wouldn't eat him.
So he cut it in two, and crawled up in there (trying to keep warm, I guess).
:notam:

FHI-prez
10-08-2005, 07:02 AM
Pythons get bigger than 13 ft. It's a big snake, but by far not the biggest python. Pythons in the wild are known to eat small pigs and calfs, both with a larger girth than a 6ft gator. The problem with a constrictor eating another reptile like a gator, is that the gator was suffocated and in essence "passed out" and probably went into supended animation so to speak. A mammal passes out for just a few minutes and it can die. A reptile can pass out much longer and still wake up. It's completely feasible that the gator was out long enough for the snake to "think" it was dead, hence starting the feast. What I didn't see in the story was also the fact that the snakes head was missing. Apparently another near by gator took exception to the going's on, and decided to make a meal out of the probably then dead snake's head.
BTW an aquaintence of mine has a Burmese python that is around 17-18 ft long. He's kind of difficult to measure as you can imagine. But he is in a 16ft cage and when he's trucking down the back of the cage by the glass his head gets to one side of the cage before his tail is off the other side, and he's still not perfectly straight. Stretched out a bit, he might even be over 18 ft. He's pretty docile (I think it's a "she" actually") but he has gotten so big he can't be let out of his cage any more like he used to. The last time he was "handled" he was around 9 ft. and weighed well over 100 lbs. Now he's close to 8" in diameter :squiggle: You can still handle his head and pet him....just as long as he/she just ate a big meal, wouldn't even want to get near it when he hasn't eatin for a month or two. He feeds it only once every couple of months as he/she is too big for it's age already, he was trying to see how big he could get it to grow.....now he's not so sure he was very smart in that endeavor. Everything has gotten a bit out of hand, he can only "clean" the cage after he feeds it (peeeewww!) And he's considering buying another house and moving, but has no idea how to move the snake as the "cage" is a multi-thousand dollar investement that is built into the house, and I'm pretty sure he won't find a buyer for the house that wants that monster to come with it. :rolleyes:

barbigrl
10-08-2005, 07:14 AM
Thank you Matt, I think I am going to go vomit now!! :frown:

FHI-prez
10-08-2005, 07:37 AM
He should turn that snake loose in the Everglades. :D
It's kinda funny you say that, he has given that some thought (I don't know about the everglades per say, but he did mention just letting it go in the swamp about 100 miles from here). But he's kind of a goofy bastard, he loves that damn snake. And has several others, but none even CLOSE to that size. Frankly, that thing has gotten just plain spooky big. He/she doesn't move very much anymore, which is why he thinks it may be better for the snake to let it go in the wild, but maybe not better for the wild for him to do so. :2purples: But now he's got a baby on the way (hence the thought of moving) and he's in a bit of a pickle. Not worried about the baby at all, no way in hell could anyone open his cage. Locked down like a vault.
BTW this is kinda sick....but he feeds the beast small pigs! :2purples: It's a bit disconcerting to hear the pig squeal when it first gets hit, but he doesn't squeal very long. :eat: Then the snake has a big ass lump in it for a day or two. :skull: This is when he handles the snakes head, and cleans the cage of the last big ole' turd from the meal a month or two ago. :umm:

olbiezer
10-08-2005, 07:45 AM
hey shockwave i agree that pythons get huge but this one and a 6 ft gator? i dont buy it......i relize a bigger snake could eat pigs etc but this one looks fishie to me

UnionJack
10-08-2005, 07:53 AM
great

FHI-prez
10-08-2005, 08:01 AM
hey shockwave i agree that pythons get huge but this one and a 6 ft gator? i dont buy it......i relize a bigger snake could eat pigs etc but this one looks fishie to me
When was the last time you saw a six ft gator? A six foot gator is not that big. 30% of it is tail. Maybe 12 -14 inches wide at the belly. It sounds weird, but a 10 ft. gator is 3-4 times the mass of a six footer. When I hear reports of a snake eating a 10 ft gator, I'll call bullshit. But a six footer? Not hard to believe at all. The only thing odd about a snake eating it would be that even if it did successfully eat the dumb lizzard, he'd probably die in a few days or weeks. Only because the snake would not be able to move with that long ass gator inside it until it was at least partially digested. They get lathargic enough with just a big ole lump in their gut, that snake would be easy prey after it ate.

Phat Matt
10-08-2005, 08:18 AM
hey shockwave i agree that pythons get huge but this one and a 6 ft gator? i dont buy it......i relize a bigger snake could eat pigs etc but this one looks fishie to me
Maybe that's why the gator burst out.