A bit of bad news: large wild python consumed Indonesian man

[Noelle7206]

Here's a link to the BBC article:

Indonesian man's body found inside python - police - BBC News

[acephantom903]

Re: A bit of bad news: large wild python consumed Indonesian man

Yup. Read that yesterday around lunch time. I suspect foul play but they will never find out what really happened because they will not have a full investigation. Snakes big enough to eat humans can't get past the shoulders unless it were swallowing from the feet up. From what I saw from the clip it looked like the man were eaten from the legs up -- both legs at one time and arms down. What do I know? Maybe it was the one snake with the mutation to have the ability to widen its jaws enough to get around the shoulders without having to assist by gradually getting wider and it died from its greed. I still suspect foul play.

One thing for certain: It is ammunition for anti-snake people and we can't even deny it.

[Pandorasdad]

Re: A bit of bad news: large wild python consumed Indonesian man

One thing for certain: It is ammunition for anti-snake people and we can't even deny it.

This.

I think this whole thing is fishy. Given where is happened, we will never know the full story, but I don't actually believe it for one second. I'm pretty sure the snake is the fall guy here for something more sinister.

[acephantom903]

Re: A bit of bad news: large wild python consumed Indonesian man

I'm pretty sure the snake is the fall guy here for something more sinister.

Screams were heard in the palm oil plantation but the snake/body was found in a ditch closer to his home.

[Pandorasdad]

Re: A bit of bad news: large wild python consumed Indonesian man

Screams were heard in the palm oil plantation but the snake/body was found in a ditch closer to his home.

And a snake isn't going to move that far for a while after consuming such a large meal. It just doesn't add up.

[Noelle7206]

Re: A bit of bad news: large wild python consumed Indonesian man

This.

I think this whole thing is fishy. Given where is happened, we will never know the full story, but I don't actually believe it for one second. I'm pretty sure the snake is the fall guy here for something more sinister.

You're probably right about that...the story caught my eye because the BBC is a pretty reliable source & because this sort of thing has often been speculated about, never proven, & wisely doubted by those of us
who know snakes the best.

[acephantom903]

Re: A bit of bad news: large wild python consumed Indonesian man

Can snakes eat infants? yes if the snake is big enough. No confirmed cases but possible. Can snakes get big enough to eat toddlers? yes but it would have to bend the shoulders out of the way which is possible but unlikely. Can snakes get big enough to eat an adult male human? yes but adult male humans shoulders are too broad and usually too difficult to flex enough for a snake to be able to swallow and snakes aren't smart enough to know to do it. It would have to know to break the collar bones and squeeze in the shoulders and maybe collapse the top of the rib cage just to stand a chance. The body didn't look like that happened. It looked like a person in a snakeskin bodybag.

Then again where I am it isn't unheard of that people will murder someone and cut them up to feed them to the gators which is why every time a piece of body is found they start killing local gators to look for other body parts which might lead to a murder investigation.

[Noelle7206]

Re: A bit of bad news: large wild python consumed Indonesian man

... adult male humans shoulders are too broad and usually too difficult to flex enough for a snake to be able to swallow and snakes aren't smart enough to know to do it. It would have to know to break the collar bones and squeeze in the shoulders and maybe collapse the top of the rib cage just to stand a chance....

They wouldn't necessarily have to be "smart enough" to "know" how to do it...I think instincts & luck make a large contribution. Remember they've also swallowed & even survived other "impossible" prey, like
some with antlers. Also, this Indonesian man may have had a smaller build* than the typical adult male you are envisioning. I hope they do some further investigation on this. It's a rare thing for even a giant
snake to prey on humans of any size, but certainly they can kill humans without consuming them anyway (for anyone having nightmares?). It's just mostly avoidable and I'd have way more concern about large
wild cats of any sort. *Also, this man may have had a poor diet & therefore weak bones. If you've ever lived in another country, & I have, you see that the health we take for granted isn't the same elsewhere.
(And I do think the police would have noticed a "body bag", lol.)

I'm in no way bad-mouthing snakes, just being a realist; they are wild predators who behave as nature designed them to, & in a pinch, we might be seen as prey, particularly by the giant snakes for whom fussy
eating habits are not practical. Anyone keeping them should acknowledge & respect that.

[natieb]

Re: A bit of bad news: large wild python consumed Indonesian man

Also, this was on Sulawesi which is known for having some of the biggest of the big retics. Little dude, giant snake, it's not terribly surprising.

[Pandorasdad]

Re: A bit of bad news: large wild python consumed Indonesian man

Also, this was on Sulawesi which is known for having some of the biggest of the big retics. Little dude, giant snake, it's not terribly surprising.

Still, I don't buy it. I guess it's possible, but it's rural Indonesia. We'll probably never know for sure what happened.

[Walter3rd]

Re: A bit of bad news: large wild python consumed Indonesian man

If these snakes can eat deer with a rack I don't see a problem with a small man.

[Noelle7206]

Re: A bit of bad news: large wild python consumed Indonesian man

If these snakes can eat deer with a rack I don't see a problem with a small man.

Agree. I've read of cases where they've found a snake in the process of healing over where the antlers poked thru their side. They were digested from the inside causing the external portion of the antler
to then fall off. And somehow the snake survived that gruesome ordeal too. (shudders!)