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WATCH: Python Dies After Swallowing Nilgai
Indian Express ^ | September 23, 2016

Posted on 09/25/2016 1:42:07 PM PDT by nickcarraway

Pythons swallow their prey whole, and take several days or even weeks to fully digest it.

Biting off more than it could chew cost a 20-foot python its life in Junagadh district. The python died yesterday after swallowing a blue bull (‘nilgai’) at Baliavad village near Gir wildlife sanctuary, a Gujarat forest department official said. Villagers found the python lying on the road, its belly distended beyond normal capacity, and apparently struggling to digest the animal it had swallowed. “Forest officials were informed and they rushed to the site to ascertain its condition,” Deputy Conservator of Forest R Senthilkumaran said today. “It succumbed to the internal injuries caused by the (swallowing of) blue bull,” he said. Pythons swallow their prey whole, and take several days or even weeks to fully digest it. They are known to prey on animals much larger in size. After eating, a python can go several weeks, if not months, without needing to feed again. Reportedly, A farmer who first noticed this, informed the authorities of the Girnar Wildlife Sanctuary, Junagadh, through a telephonic message.

“Python roams around the wildlife sanctuary and they could rarely be seen. We got a telephonic message of a farmer that a python has swallowed a big animal. We sent a rescue team immediately and found that a python has swallowed a blue bull,” said Assistant Conservator of Forest S.D. Tilala. Watch the video here.

“It was 18-20 feet long. We have transported the animal to some other place so that it does not injure other people. We will keep it under observation. When it will digest the blue bill, we will release the python in the forest,” he added.


TOPICS: Pets/Animals
KEYWORDS: antelope; bluebull; nilgai; pythons; wildlife
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Video at site. (A nilgai is an antelope)

1 posted on 09/25/2016 1:42:07 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

The Erf needs pythons because?


2 posted on 09/25/2016 1:45:22 PM PDT by Paladin2 (auto spelchk? BWAhaha2haaa.....I aint't likely fixin' nuttin'. Blame it on the Bossa Nova...)
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To: nickcarraway

It died and then it lived and then it died and lived again to die.


3 posted on 09/25/2016 1:46:57 PM PDT by MeneMeneTekelUpharsin (Freedom is the freedom to discipline yourself so others don't have to do it for you.)
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To: nickcarraway

They actually received a ‘telephonic’ message about this!
Apparently, the snake’s venom was not powerful enough to dissolve the animal tissues in an efficient way.
Can you imagine how wide the snake’s jaws had to flip open for this to occur? It’s a wonder he didn’t get lockjaw.


4 posted on 09/25/2016 1:47:33 PM PDT by lee martell
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To: Paladin2

#snakeslivesmatter


5 posted on 09/25/2016 1:49:21 PM PDT by PROCON ("Lock Her Up! Lock Her Up!")
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To: Paladin2
They make delightful boots?

Actually they are part of the ecosystem and anything a python can catch was usually not long for this world any way.

Better that the python eat it then having a decaying animal laying around.

6 posted on 09/25/2016 1:49:35 PM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (Not a Romantic, not a hero worshiper and stop trying to tug my heartstrings. It tickles!)
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To: nickcarraway

And they’re taking over south Florida.


7 posted on 09/25/2016 1:49:39 PM PDT by JusPasenThru (Democrat mantra: Promise Everything, Deliver Nothing, Blame Others)
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To: JusPasenThru
I don't know what is wrong with those folks in Florida. If they would just put a bounty on the heads of these invasive creatures the problem would solve itself. There are still a lot of good ol' boys in Florida.

We have a Nutria problem in Louisiana but since they started putting a bounty on them the population has dramatically decreased.

8 posted on 09/25/2016 1:55:05 PM PDT by BBell (calm down and eat your sandwiches)
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To: MeneMeneTekelUpharsin

Peto-bismol, don’t leave home without it.


9 posted on 09/25/2016 1:56:16 PM PDT by VRWCarea51 (The Original 1998 Version)
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To: BBell

Nutria make pretty coats.


10 posted on 09/25/2016 1:57:02 PM PDT by HokieMom (Pacepa : Can the U.S. afford a president who can't recognize anti-Americanism?)
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To: nickcarraway

The python is the Oprah of the snake world.


11 posted on 09/25/2016 1:57:28 PM PDT by tumblindice (America's founding fathers: all armed conservatives.)
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To: nickcarraway

He died doing what he loves best.


12 posted on 09/25/2016 1:59:11 PM PDT by SamAdams76 (It is a wise man who rules by the polls but it is a fool who is ruled by them)
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To: HokieMom

I hear they don’t taste bad but I have never eaten one. They are vegetarians.


13 posted on 09/25/2016 1:59:35 PM PDT by BBell (calm down and eat your sandwiches)
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To: BBell

Ain’t it the truth. Right now they lovingly capture these creatures and give them nice new homes in upstate New York.


14 posted on 09/25/2016 2:01:08 PM PDT by JusPasenThru (Democrat mantra: Promise Everything, Deliver Nothing, Blame Others)
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To: JusPasenThru

They are killing off the gators and caymans.


15 posted on 09/25/2016 2:03:34 PM PDT by MIA_eccl1212 (10 rounds 10 meters 10 seconds 10 centimetres)
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To: lee martell

I don’t think Pythons are venomous.


16 posted on 09/25/2016 2:04:40 PM PDT by beelzepug (For English press #1; for Spanish, learn English and press #1)
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To: nickcarraway

Geez for a second I thought this article referred to the tragic death of one of the actors...but no this is a real Python not one of the Monty’s.


17 posted on 09/25/2016 2:06:29 PM PDT by Zack Nguyen
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To: nickcarraway

The python had a climate change moment.


18 posted on 09/25/2016 2:07:06 PM PDT by JohnLongIsland
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To: lee martell

“Apparently, the snake’s venom was not powerful enough to dissolve the animal tissues in an efficient way.”

Pythons are constrictors, squeezing their prey to death rather than using venom.

“Can you imagine how wide the snake’s jaws had to flip open for this to occur? It’s a wonder he didn’t get lockjaw.”

Definitely amazing!

“Whereas the upper jaw of a human is fused to the skull and therefore unable to move, a snake’s upper jaw is attached to its braincase by muscles, ligaments and tendons, allowing it some front-to-back and side-to-side mobility. The upper jaw connects to the lower jaw by the quadrate bone, which works like a double-jointed hinge so the lower jaw can dislocate, allowing the mouth to open as wide as 150 degrees. Also, the bones that make up the sides of the jaws are not fused together at the front like the human chin, but instead are connected by muscle tissue, allowing the sides to separate and move independently of one another. All of this flexibility comes in handy when a snake encounters prey bigger than its head — its head can stretch to accommodate it.”

http://animals.howstuffworks.com/snakes/snake4.htm


19 posted on 09/25/2016 2:16:34 PM PDT by Carthego delenda est
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To: BBell
If they would just put a bounty on the heads of these invasive creatures the problem would solve itself. There are still a lot of good ol' boys in Florida.

They have hunts but pythons are incredibly elusive and the Everglades is huge and much is inaccessible.

https://news.vice.com/article/hunters-descend-on-southern-florida-for-annual-python-hunt

20 posted on 09/25/2016 2:20:21 PM PDT by randita
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