| READ FULL STORY AND STUDY PICTURES AT billschannel.com MSNBC Story about the captured Snake www.msnbc.msn.com The Pythonidae, commonly known simply as pythons, from the Greek word python (πυθων), are a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia and Australia. Among its members are some of the largest snakes in the world. Eight genera and 26 species are currently recognized Prey is killed by a process known as constriction; after an animal has been grasped to restrain it, a number of coils are hastily wrapped around it. Then, by applying and maintaining sufficient pressure to prevent it from inhaling, the prey eventually succumbs due to asphyxiation. The pressures produced during constriction have recently been suggested to cause cardiac arrest by interfering with blood flow,[4] but this hypothesis has not yet been confirmed. Larger specimens usually eat animals about the size of a house cat, but larger food items are known: some large Asian species have been known to take down adult deer, and the African rock python, Python sebae, has been known to eat antelope. Prey is swallowed whole, and may take anywhere from several days or even weeks to fully digest. Contrary to popular belief, even the larger species, such as the reticulated python, P. reticulatus, do not crush their prey to death; in fact, prey is not even noticeably deformed before it is swallowed. The speed with which the coils are applied is impressive and the force they exert may be significant, but ... |
