Have you ever wondered how a snake with no hands, no teeth for chewing, and no claws to bite down on prey can swallow an animal much bigger than its own head?It sounds impossible, yet pythons do it with their bodies, which are built for exactly this way of hunting. It doesn’t tear its food into pieces; instead, it catches its prey, wraps its body around it, squeezes until the animal can no longer breathe, and then swallows it completely.Recently, a huge python in Pratapgarh swallowed a Nilgai calf completely until villagers entered to rescue.Let’s find out what happened further
Python swallows a baby nilgai in Pratapgarh, then a snake rescuer handled the scare
A huge python swallowed a young nilgai or blue bull in the Dishini village of Pratapgarh. The news of it spread quickly, and a crowd gathered around the snake, the incident was then captured on camera by people nearby, and the video went viral on social media, showing a metre-long python with an unusually big stomach, with its scales and skin stretched. It then began regurgitating an animal from its mouth that initially seemed to be a baby goat but was later confirmed to be a Nilgai calf.
Snake rescuers were called to relocate the python snake
Panic spread among the villagers, and a local snake rescuer, Siraj Sheikh, was then called to the site; once he arrived, he began the rescue carefully. According to Amar Ujala, he started the rescue with caution.During the rescue, the python released the calf, which it had swallowed alive and released it when its belly swelled.After the calf was out, Sheikh safely caught the python and released it into the forest, and the villagers, who had been watching nervously, breathed a sigh of relief.Sheikh also had a message for the crowd. He urged villagers not to try to kill or catch a snake themselves. Instead, they should contact a trained snake rescuer or the forest department, so the animal can be handled safely.
Can a python really swallow an organism bigger than itself?
Even though it’s very rare, a python can swallow animals that are much larger in size than the snake. Mary-Ruth Low of Wildlife Reserves Singapore told the BBC in an earlier report, “In essence, they can go as large as their prey goes.” She added that pythons eating animals as big as a cow is not unusual.
How can a python swallow something so big?
It comes down to some clever snake anatomy. According to Science Focus, a python swallows its prey whole and headfirst. Its skull is built to take in animals much wider than its own head. Part of the secret is in its jaw, as its lower jaw is made of two separate halves joined by a stretchy ligament, so the python can open its mouth as wide as its skin will stretch. Going in headfirst also helps the meal slide down more smoothly, with less friction.
What happens after a python eats the organism?
Digestion takes time, sometimes up to a month. During that period, the snake’s stomach acid and enzymes slowly break down the meal, bones and teeth included.
