Saint George killed the last dragon, and he was called a hero for it.  I've never seen a dragon, and I wish he would have left at least one.  Saint Patrick made a name for himself by running the snakes out of Ireland, leaving the place vulnerable to rodent infestation.  This business of making saints out of men who exterminate their fellow creatures has got to stop.  All I'm saying is, it's starting to get a little lonely up here at the top of the food chain.

- A Whitney Brown
 

And why was the snake so fat?  Because he'd had a rather large meal...

Well, I warned you!

Source:  I don't know.  I was forwarded these photos.  If anyone knows their origin, please let me know.  Thanks.

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Snake in Mindoro
Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2008 07:07:18 +0800
From: <Smpc.Receptionist@emerson.com>

Hi dear,

You know this picture is true.  It happened late 1998, one of our own natives - we call them “MANGYAN” - was eaten by the giant snake which we call in our language (Tagalong) “SAWA”…

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: man-swallowed-by-python pic
Date: Thu, 23 Feb 2006 18:50:43 -0800 (PST)
From: CHRISTIAN QUEJADA <fu_fly@yahoo.com>

I just saw the picture you posted on your site.  Actually, that picture of a python with a man sticking out from its belly was taken in the Philippines in 1998.  That story made the headlines all over the country at that time, and it was featured on numerous tv documentaries here in the Philippines.  When that unlucky man first disappeared, friends thought he was kidnapped by rebels (they actually called in the army to help in the search) but then later they discovered his awful fate.

Below are some news excerpts relating the incident:

"Gumilid Lantod was alone in the jungle catching bats on Mindoro Island in the Philippines when a 23ft (7m) python bit him on the foot and squeezed him to death.  Then the monster swallowed the 154lb (60kg) man.  Friends later found the snake and slit it open, finding the father of six already half digested."
- Express (Germany) 3 April [AFP] 7 April 1998

"LANTOD GUMILIU, 32, a member of the Mangyan tribe on the island of Mindoro in the Philippines, was found dead inside a giant python after tribesmen found the bloated snake, killed it and cut open its stomach."
- South China Morning Post 16 Jan 1998.

I hope this answered your question.

Christian

Dear Christian

Thanks!

Ruth

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Suggestions
Date: Mon, 19 Nov 2007 15:02:52 -0600
From: alan.mickelson@mnsu.edu

Comments: Not trying to be rude, but the picture you guys have posted of the snake eating a man is fake.  Numerous reasons for this have been sited by herp professionals on various snake breeding forums.  Not to mention the part about the guy being believed to be abducted by rebels doesn't work, I have many snakes and if it took them that long to find him, he would not still be in that good a condition (he'd be a lot more digested).  There is one and as far as I know only one confirmed story of a snake eating a man and it comes from India where a rubber tree farmer was killed but not swallowed but a reticulated python.  Snakes have a very difficult time swallowing animals with wide shoulders like people, so it only got as far as his head and could not swallow him any further (snakes swallow prey head first).

Alan

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: About the boa pix on your website
Date: Fri, 27 Aug 2004 15:42:30 -0700 (PDT)
From: Jacqueline <galleryserpentine@yahoo.com>

Hello there,

I was cruising your site, and found those pictures of a snake that ate a man.  I've seen many similar pictures, and have even heard of a certain scientist who studies how the human bodies are folded in the stomach.  The part of the world that this occurs in is Asia, and the snakes are almost always Reticulated Pythons, not Boa Constrictors.  Boa Constrictors grow to a maximum of 12 feet in length, and originate in South America.  Reticulated pythons can grow up to 30 feet in length, making it the longest snake in the world.  After checking out the pictures, the snake is definitely a Reticulated Python. =)

For a bit more info: Snakes eating humans is something that happens in the US too.  Check out Anapsid.org: there are newspaper stories of Burmese Pythons killing, and attempting to eat children and young teenagers.  (Talk about irresponsible parents!...)

Thought you'd like to know,

Jacqui

-------- Original Message --------
Date: Mon, 23 Jan 2006 08:39:31 -0500
From: Wayne <wayneoreilly@sympatico.ca>

In response to the above email, the boa is the snake family in which the anaconda is a member and that is the biggest snake in the world.  Also boas are not native to South America as stated, but are found all over North America, South America and Asia, India and parts of Africa, there are 30 or so different types of boas.  Sorry to say what is stated was wrong on more than one point.

The largest-known snake in the world is the anaconda, or Eunectes murinus, of South America.  It holds the world's record for size with one specimen, encountered by petroleum geologists in eastern Columbia in 1944, measuring 37½ feet in length.  Somewhere deep in the southern swamps do they grow bigger?  According to Colonel Percy H Fawcett, a former British Army officer, surveyor and adventurer in the early 1900's.

The anaconda lives in Central and tropical South America.  It is a member of the boa family of snakes and is dark green in color with round markings.  It is sometimes referred to as the "water boa."  Because the anaconda's weight is usually supported by liquid, it can grow larger than snakes that make their homes in trees.  The water-based anaconda often winds up drowning its victims (as they are pulled into the water) rather than suffocating them by constriction.

Wayne

The serpent crams itself with animal life that is often warm and vibrant, to prolong an existence in which we detect no joy and no emotion.
It reveals the depth to which evolution can sink when it takes the downward path
and strips animals to the irreducible minimum able to perpetuate a predatory life in its naked horror.

- Alexander Skutch

Python Swallows Bangladeshi Tribal Woman

Rangamati - A python has swallowed a tribal women in Bangladesh's southeastern Chittagong Hill Tracts, police say.  The python was later killed and the body of the woman was retrieved in Baghaichhari forest near Rangamati 350km from the capital Dhaka, a police officer said yesterday.  The victim Basanti Tripura, 38 was taken off guard by the massive python which swallowed her slowly.  A loud cry by her companion, also a woman, could not deter the python.  The incident occurred on Tuesday when the two women went to the forest to collect fruits.

Source: stuff.co.nz 22 November 2003

African Rock Python (Python Sebae)

The Rock python is Africa's largest snake; it eats mammals and birds.  It lays up to 100 eggs about the size of a tennis ball in antbear (aardvark) holes, hollow tree or similar suitable places.  The female coils herself around the eggs to protect them.  The snake in this picture had eaten a full grown Impala ewe and, sadly, caught itself in an electric fence.  Over four metres in length, this was a large specimen.

A view of the python's mouth.  A python's bite is not venomous but would be very painful.

When the python was skinned we found a full grown Impala ewe had just been swallowed.  The python kills its prey by coiling itself around the animal and constricting it.  When the animal is dead the python swallows it normally head first.  Having swallowed its prey, the snake will find an abandoned burrow or hollow tree in which to hide and digest it's meal.

Source: bushveld.co.za

-------- Original Message --------

Hey Ruth

The pictures that were forwarded to you are actually from Sudan in the camp that my brother works.  This I know for sure coz my brother even knew the guard so all this mambo jambo of it being from somewhere else is all lies.

Mercy.  Kenya

Eric

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