African Rock Python Devours 10 Year Old Boy

Sunday Telegraph ^ | Nov. 24, 2002 | Wire Report

[ewing]

A 6 meter African rock python swallowed a 10 year old boy near Durban, the first recorded 'man eating' incident for the species.

For three hours other children hid up mango trees near the township of Lamontville, too terrified to flee, as the snake first trapped the young boy and squeezed the life out of him before consuming him whole.

Police and snake expers found no trace of the child, or his clothing, except for a trail of flattened grass and a trail leading down to a nearby stream.

The incident last week prompted wide spread panic among the 50,000 residents of the township.

[Vidalia]

How about throwing big rocks at the beast?

Pythons are pure muscle and very hardy.

The size rock needed to affect the actions of the snake probbly would weigh two or three times the body weight of the largest child there...

[michwm]

BUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRPPPPPPPPPPP

[ewing]

Or a rock with a sharp edge perhaps?

I doubt the snake was very mobile..

[ewing]

Photo from Borneo of a snake swallowing a pig.

[Vidalia]

So the boy must have passed on by cardiac arrest.

Close, but the python, as is the boa, is a constrictor.

Smaller bones will crush and snap.

They merely slowly squeeze the prey in an ever smaller muscular vise to the point that the lungs are compressed and can no longer contract or expand to take in oxygen.

The child/prey slowly suffocates alive...

[ewing]

The article says that the beast is careful not to crush bones of it sprey because it is not good for eating.

[crystalk]

One that fits in the palm of your hand, then you bash its skull in. Needs a little muscle behind it.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Do us all a favor and go find yourself a 6 meter python and try to kill it with a rock or a knife.

[boris]

"Hey, lady, snakes are cold blooded, meaning that they have no central nervous system and therefore incapable of an emotion such as 'love'."

"Against stupidity, the gods themselves contend in vain."--Freideich von Schiller, The Maid Of Orleans.

Snakes do not lack a central nervous system. Whether they feel "love" is unknowable, but in any event does not depend upon a false claim that they lack a nervous system. You win one point for recognizing that they are cold-blooded, and -1 for thinking this has any effect on their nervous system. So:

Cold blooded: +1
No nervous system: -1
Incapable of love: 0
Cold blooded==no nervous system: -1
"No nervous system"=="incapable of love": -1

Total: -2 for this sentence, making the entire posting the mouthings of a complete moron.

--Boris

[Vidalia]

The article says that the beast is careful not to crush bones of its prey because it is not good for eating.

What is meant by smaller bones are those not unlike those in a fish that will not puncture the gut of the snake or become wedged to create a damn or blockage of the snake's digestive tract.

The manner that a snake swallows is rather like feeding a paper towel into a funnel.

The sphincter muscles (OK, I heard that snickering in the back of the class...)slowly compress the bones so that they are longitudinal.

A good analogy is an umbrella, with the tip of the umbrella as the head of the prey when fully open.

The snake slowly (always starting from the head) swallows the umbrella (prey) and the muscles slowly close the umbrella until it is more like a fat cigar ready for consumption.

Next week I'll tell you why all cold blooded species such as snakes and fish, etc., do not have central nervous systems and cannot "feel" the pain the loonies at PETA and other anarchist organizations would have you believe.
A little knowledge (just a few basic facts) of zoological science would go a very long way into completely dismissing such claims and lies...

[ewing]

How long does death take to set in, would there have been time to plot cutting the beast open with a rock?

[Intimidator]

Obviously, you are not the parents of ten and eleven year old children

Oh really, even my 9 year old son would run and get an adult instead of watching for 3 hours. Even my 6 year old daughter has that much sense. It probably wouldn't have saved the boy but at least they could have tried something. Shows how much you know.

[Vidalia]

The context in which the "nervous system" was mentioned was that of a comparison to the human system.

All creatures must have some sort of nervous system otherwise no mobility, no digestive, etc.

The "nervous system" of a cold blooded species is in no manner similar to the central nervous system of homo sapien, which is what many activists would have the rest of the planet believe.

Anthropomorphism is a lie on its face.

...making the entire posting the homo of a complete moron.

Your knee-jerk reactions and homo spontaneous proclivity for name calling must endear you to many...

[KMJames]

Re: post 32. Absolutely hilarious.

You can't argue with the math.

FReegards, KMJames

[PBRSTREETGANG]

How long does death take to set in...

Death sets in before the snake attempts to swallow its prey. The only reason to cut the snake open would be to get the body back for the funeral.

[farmfriend]

We can do without the color references, thank you.

[ewing]

So it must have been a quick death.