Posted on 09/14/2002 9:30:28 AM PDT by mhking
Edited on 05/07/2004 8:44:53 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
My constant companion. I feel naked without this clipped to my strong side back pocket.
That sucker would saw through a boa so fast it would make your head spin.
The Green Anaconda (Eunectes murinus) is considered by many to be the largest snake in the world. These snakes may reach lengths of over 29 feet. There are many exaggerated stories and legends about anacondas being much longer, but they have never been confirmed. Travelers' diaries and notes often refer to 40-foot individuals and references to 140-foot anacondas have actually been made, but again, never confirmed.
Stories about enormous man-eating snakes are exciting but not a reality. An Urban Legend circulating by way of e-mail claims that an anaconda ate a South American boy while he slept. This link supposedly includes actual photos of the boy inside the snake and also after the snake was cut open. It was obviously a hoax. The first two pictures show a large common boa, which had consumed a large prey item. The third, showing the boy inside the snake, does not match the other two and was apparently set up.
Animals that are out of their normal environment threaten the native species, not to mention snakes like this threaten people as well. I generally have an agreement with snakes that if they don't bother me, I won't bother them. My wife on the other hand, doesn't share this thought, in fact, she has killed a couple trying to make their way into our garage. They were a whole lot smaller than the snake in the story of course.
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