VIDEO: Anacondas & Pythons Against Various Felines

Animals fight all the time in the wild. They fight for supremacy, for territory and for food/staying alive.

That’s what wildlife is about – kill or be killed! Only the strongest ones survive.

This video shows what life in the wilderness is really like.

According to Live Science, because of their bulk, pythons move by scooting forward in a straight line. This is called “rectilinear progression” movement, according to the San Diego Zoo.

Pythons stiffen their ribs for support against the ground then lift their bellies and push themselves forward. It is a slow form of movement and pythons can’t go more than 1 mph (1.6 kph).

Many species of python are excellent swimmers, while others are arboreal, according to Viernum. “They hang from branches with their prehensile tails.”

Pythons have different diets, depending on their size. Small pythons, such as the anthill python, eat mostly rodents, lizards and small birds.

Bigger pythons eat mammals as big as monkeys, wallabies, antelope and pigs. According to the San Diego Zoo, a rock python was once found with a small leopard in its stomach. According to an article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, there have been reports of the large reticulated python attacking humans.

“Pythons are nonvenomous ambush predators,” said Viernum. “Some species are capable of swimming and may lie partially submerged in shallow water waiting for prey to visit the water body.”

It is a myth that arboreal pythons, such as the green tree python, launch themselves from branches onto prey below. This could cause serious injury to the snake. Rather, they lie still on a branch and wriggle their tails to lure in their prey. They strike while still in the tree, according to the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

After they’ve grabbed their prey in their long teeth, pythons kill it by constriction. Contrary to popular belief, constriction does not mean crushing.

According to Wikipedia, anacondas are well-verified to grow to sizes of 5.21 metres (17.1 ft), and 97.5 kilograms (215 lb). In particular, the green or common anaconda is the heaviest and largest among all extant snakes in terms of robustness, and it is also the second-longest.

While the longest reputably-measured and confirmed anaconda was about 5.21 metres (17.1 ft) long, extreme lengths far in excess of this have been reported for this species, without verification. Some seemingly reliable claims that can be found describe measured anacondas ranging from 26 to 39 feet (8.7 to 11.9 m), although these remain unverified.

The first recorded sightings of giant anacondas were from the time of the discovery of South America, when early European explorers entered the dense jungles and claimed to have seen giant snakes measuring up to 18 metres (59.1 ft) long.

Natives also reported seeing anacondas upwards of 10.5 metres (34.4 ft) to 18 metres (59.1 ft). Anacondas above 5 metres (16.4 ft) in length are rare.

The Wildlife Conservation Society has, since the early 20th century, offered a large cash reward for live delivery of any snake of 30 feet (9.1 m) or more in length, but the prize has never been claimed, despite the numerous sightings of giant anacondas. In a survey of 780 wild anacondas in Venezuela, the largest captured was 17 feet (5.2 m) long.