People trapped by pythons
In the wild you unfortunately encounter a python, it is spitting letters slowly moving towards you, and is about to eat you, if you have a sharp knife in your hand, can you cut its stomach to save yourself? What are the chances of survival? In order to verify this possibility, American biologists have told us the answer with personal experience.
The case of "pythons eating people"
In 2017, the British BBC reported that in the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, a 25-year-old man was swallowed by a seven-meter-long python. After people cut the python's abdomen, it was found that the man had not been digested.
Coincidentally, in 2022, in India, a 54-year-old woman, Jahrah, went up the mountain to collect rubber and did not return for two days and nights, her family searched for a long time, and finally found a huge python with a big belly in the mountain.
As one might think, open the python's belly, Jahrah was inside, her body was almost intact and she was still wearing clothes, so her family recognized her at a glance, and there is no doubt that Jahrah did not survive in the end.
Locals even theorized that the python swallowed her alive after she lost consciousness, and finally died in the python's stomach due to lack of oxygen.
Indian python cannibalism incident
These similar news make people frightened, and the scene of being swallowed alive by a python can break out in a cold sweat just by thinking about it, let alone really facing it. Many horror movies also use pythons swallowing people as a theme, so if we really encounter this kind of thing, can we survive smoothly? Scientists in the United States have already given us the answer.
Crazy experiments
American biologist Paul Rossel said that he was very curious about whether a person could escape by cutting its stomach with a knife in his hand after being swallowed by a giant python.
In 2014, Paul made a daring experiment: to show people what it was like to be entangled and swallowed by green forest grasshoppers in the Amazon rainforest, and made a documentary to show people under the name of a very simple and bold documentary: "Eaten Alive."
The body size of the senpai is very large, with an average body length of 3~4.6 meters and a weight of 30~56 kg. The largest forest cockroach can reach a length of 8 meters and weigh 160 kilograms, mainly inhabiting South America, is the largest member of the family Cerambycidae, and is also one of the largest snakes in the world; Judging by its size, humans are vulnerable to it.
Forest grasshoppers in the rainforest
Due to the non-venomous nature of this snake, the senpai will use its body to tightly wrap its prey until it suffocates.
We have to admire the courage of this biologist to dedicate himself to scientific research.
In order to ensure the safety of the experimenter, that is, Paul, the shooting team prepared a complete set of suits, first aid kits, sign detectors, etc., to ensure that the experiment could be carried out smoothly. At the same time, Paul himself put on a four-layer protective suit.
These four layers have their own functions, all to protect the safety of the experimentee: it can measure the pressure Paul received in the python's body, can protect the person from being corroded by the gastric juice of the senpai, and can also ensure that it will not be pricked by its sharp teeth; The most important thing is to facilitate the recording of Paul's real-time vital signs so that the experiment can be terminated in time when in danger.
What followed was a fierce "human snake war". Unexpectedly, Paul didn't even last a minute in this situation. This result was very different from what Paul had expected.
At first, in order to attract the attention of the senpai, he smeared a large amount of pig's blood on his body, and it went well, and Paul managed to attract it.
After some fighting, the python entangled Paul to death, not giving him a chance to struggle.
At first, Paul was able to communicate with his teammates and doctors, and immediately after that, he heard the sound of "armor" cracking, and the whole process took less than 10 seconds.
After 10 seconds, Paul was getting more and more uncomfortable, and he was even unable to speak or breathe normally. Although he was well prepared, he still underestimated the suppressive power of the senpai, and at this time, the monitor monitoring Paul's signs also began to alarm, and the heart rate and blood pressure were outrageously high, and even the heart rate directly soared to 180.
By this time, half of Paul's body had been swallowed, and the accompanying doctor warned them that if they did not stop in time, Paul's life would be in danger.
In desperation, he could only stop the experiment, and at this time Paul had been "ruined" by the Sen Qiao: his consciousness was almost unconscious, his face was pale, the blood could not flow due to the pressure and his arm was numb, all of which made him feel bad about this experiment.
In this fierce "human-snake war", we can conclude that humans may not insist on being entangled in pythons to death the moment they are completely swallowed by pythons, let alone cut open their stomachs and escape.
Look at "python swallowing people" from the right perspective
After all, the occurrence of such an event is a small probability, and we will review this matter from a rational point of view.
First, do pythons draw humans into their predatory preferences?
Humans are not the first choice for python predation, for pythons, human size is much larger than other animals, and other small animals that are small and easy to prey, people are not a good predation choice.
Swallowing such a large amount of food rashly will have a certain impact on the python itself, which will make him inconvenient, but it is easy to expose himself in front of the enemy and be in a passive position.
Of course, it cannot be ruled out that if you encounter a hungry python that has not eaten for two or three days, the result will not be different.
Secondly, the possibility of a person being swallowed alive by a python while consciously is very small. Python rarely swallows living things, at least animals that can no longer move.
Its hunting method is simple and rough, because the python structure is simple, it generally crawls slowly close to the prey when preying, it is not easy for the prey to detect, and when the prey unloads, it quickly bites and then wraps the body to death, and finally flattens into long strips and swallows whole.
Finally, let's talk about the detailed process of snakes eating people.
Python and poisonous snake attack people in different ways, poisonous snakes are mostly smaller, it will raise high before attacking people, spit out letters back and forth, in order to better charge to attack the enemy. It uses its tail to generate force and ejects its body like a spring.
When closest to the target, open your mouth to reveal your fangs and "pierce" your fangs into the enemy's body, some snakes will contract the venom glands to inject venom, and some snakes will release venom after the fangs are squeezed.
And pythons are non-poisonous, so pythons eat people roughly divided into three steps: bite the prey, use the winding method to suffocate or die the prey, and finally eat him.
Step 1: Bite your prey
Anaconda teeth
From the picture above, we can observe that the python's teeth are very sharp and grow inward in a barb-like shape, and if the python is unfortunately bitten, it will only sink deeper and deeper if it struggles.
It will fix the prey with its teeth to prevent the prey from escaping, so this bite force is also huge, and the possibility of escaping by a python bite is almost zero.
Step 2: Entangle the prey
Man is entangled in a python
It should be added here that the snake's vision is almost zero, and its perception of prey is mainly achieved through the "snake letter", that is, its tongue. Snake messengers are very sensitive and can accurately sense the direction and state of their prey.
The serpent's letter
When tightly entangled with the prey, the snake can feel the breath and heartbeat of the prey, and in order to eat more conveniently, it will remain entangled until the prey in its arms no longer struggles; At the same time, the pressure caused by this winding is also huge, and Paul's experiment above concluded that the maximum contraction force of the python reached a staggering 40 tons / square meter.
Under great pressure, a person's chest cavity will be crushed, and the internal organs will bleed until death.
The entanglement of the python will also hinder blood circulation, which in severe cases will lead to head congestion and eyeball bursting.
This kind of damage is irreversible, even if the python is killed and pulled away, the possibility of human survival is very slim.
Step 3: "Eat and Eat"
The upper and lower jaws of snakes are very special structures, and when encountering relatively large prey, the upper and lower jaws will be directly "dislocated" to smoothly swallow food. Snakes do not chew like other animals when eating, and will directly and slowly swallow them.
If the prey is relatively large, the snake will affect its normal activities after swallowing, so the snake generally finds a place to hide first, and then digests it slowly.
The above are the three processes of snake eating, if you successfully go through these three stages, you are already in the belly of the python, and there is a sharp knife in your hand, at this time, can you use this knife to cut his stomach and escape smoothly?
The answer remains no.
The snake's muscles are very elastic, which can ensure that the prey is fixed in the stomach. At this time, if you have a knife in your hand, you will be in a fixed position, and the snake's muscles are only attached to you, and it is very difficult for us to act at this time.
The environment without oxygen in the python's body will also cause difficulty breathing, and the snake's digestive juice will continue to corrode you, in this case it can really be said that it is "difficult to fly".
What to do if you really encounter a snake in the wild
The two examples mentioned at the beginning of the article occur in outdoor fields, in fact, in addition to outdoor agriculture, people rarely encounter pythons in the wild, pythons are also very large, and the demand for energy is also very high, so pythons often appear in tropical rainforests that can meet their energy needs, so the probability of "pythons eating people" is also minimal.
Amazon rainforest
If you're unlucky enough to encounter a giant python in the wild and it has already set its sights on you when you spot it, don't act rashly. Any kind of python can eat a person once it is more than 5 meters long.
The usual python is slow to swallow, not in a hurry, if once it finds its prey, its amazing explosiveness will make people retreat in fear.
The most reliable method is: thirty-six plans, go for the best policy. Although pythons generally do not attack humans, what if you encounter a python that has been hungry for days?
If you're really unlucky enough to have to fight it, it's important to remember the following:
It is said that "hitting snakes and hitting seven inches", this method is also applicable to pythons. "Seven inches" is the position of the snake's heart, and hitting this position will affect the python's heart to buy yourself time to escape. This is the first method.
Structure of the snake
The second method: attack its cloaca, that is, its anus, which is the weakest point in the python's body. Attack this position, the python will eat pain, be in the inferior position, and then hold on a little longer to successfully defeat him!
Our stereotypes of pythons still mostly stay in the super-large python image in the movie, but in the actual world, the length of the python generally does not exceed 3 meters, in the face of such a snake, as long as you master the necessary skills, directly hit the point, you can save yourself at a critical moment.
But here to pay attention to one point: lying on the ground and pretending to die is not feasible for pythons, for reasons that have already been mentioned, snakes generally do not use eyes to observe, its snake letter can accurately find prey.
If you encounter a poisonous snake, be sure to move away quickly, do not run in a straight line when fleeing, turn left and right to avoid being chased by the poisonous snake, and when appropriate, you can throw wooden sticks and other things to intimidate it.
If you are unfortunately bitten by a poisonous snake, be sure to stay calm, do not exercise vigorously, save your physical strength, try to squeeze out the toxin first, and then rinse the wound with water, and the most important thing is to go to the hospital in time to inject the corresponding antivenom!!
The big world, there are no wonders. When encountering this python in the wild, we must remain calm and strive to find the enemy's weak point in order to escape smoothly and ensure our personal safety.