Quote:
Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile
Agreed. The snake is just doing what comes naturally, but if there was still time to save an animal (especially someone's pet) - in other words, if you saw the snake going for it and starting to coil around it - wouldn't you feel compelled to intervene?
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Have you watched a constrictor eat, up close and personal? I've seen it a few hundred times and it's so fast that you have to see it that many times to understand it. They strike in about 1/50 of one second. I think you'd need strobe photography to really capture it well. Once teeth are locked in, they pull it into a coil and begin wrapping. That all takes less than a second. Even someone like me, who is used to handling them and is relatively fearless around them, would probably not be able to uncoil a large constrictor. If it were attacking a human and I had a very large knife, I'd probably stand a chance. Though I'm not even sure cutting off the head would make it loosen its grip. An elderly person with no snake experience wouldn't have the slightest idea of what to do. Beating on it with a stick would not do a thing. Also, when a constrictor is crushing the life out of its prey and the prey tries to gasp for air, each time the prey gasps, the snake is able to squeeze it more. I've had a lot of Pythons and Boas around my shoulders and I'm always careful to not let them get one good wrap around my neck. They are incredibly strong. You really just have to experience it and get that quick little chill to understand how amazing these creatures are.