Python beats and eats crocodile

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Worked out better than that other time, didn’t it?
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/10/1006_051006_pythoneatsgator.html

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Ha! Thanks for posting that.

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So, given that the python (shudder) isn’t venemous, how does it go about subduing a freakin gator/croc?

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Same way all pythons’ do it; they coil and squeeze their prey to death, so that their internal organs and bones are crushed, or they merely cannot breathe and are smothered. One jaw-unhinge later, and it’s down the hatch.

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I do not understand how a python (or any animal, really) can produce enzymes that will break down the hide of something like a crocodile in any reasonable period. Anyone got any quick clues?

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At some points in my life I’ve thought, “wouldn’t it be cool if there were real monsters, like enormous dangerous reptiles in the world?”. I will never ask that question again.

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All hail Mother Nature and Her endless wisdom. Those who Wait and Listen can hear her gentle song…

In this case, it is shouting: “Stay the HELL out of Australia!”

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Indiana Jones would not approve.

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Yes, yes, but I’m wondering how the python actually gets into that position around a such an animal, given the compressive strength of a croc/gator’s jaws.
Well, here we go–To The Tube!

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The problem is they are risking being injured or killed, so they have to be judicious.

A judicious snake is a deadly snake.

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“Reasonable period” in this case may be on the order of a month or more. Snakes are slow digesters.

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even so … chitins and the rest? that will really break down in the gut of a python to let the innards be available? amazing.

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A dead crocodile left out by itself for a week would rot enough to allow access to innards. Granted, it would have help from plenty of insects and microorganisms, but it’s not like a python’s gut is more sterile than outside.

I wouldn’t be surprised if some animals even typically have symbiotic macroorganisms — worms or what have you — populating their guts, helping them break down tough food.

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Well, I do know that pythons have some pretty interesting digestive systems; they put a lot of energy into breaking down whatever they’ve eaten and they take their time doing it. All those squeezing muscles just crush and pulp - like a living Chinese finger trap. Just throwing a disgusting theory out there, but I’d say that the bones of whatever was in the creature they ate would eventually poke holes in the skin/hide with all the squeezing, allowing the snake digestive juices inside and, eventually, the snake poops out whatever couldn’t be digested. I.e. your suitcase material, croc teeth, bones, spare change. Eh, we need a herpetologist up in the hizzie.

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I don’t get it. “2000 pounds of pressure per square inch,” so how come the snake isn’t visibly injured at all?

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I don’t think the Gator was going all out there. He was trying to send a message to the snake. He also didn’t do a deathroll, which you would expect if he was trying to actually kill it.

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I hear Python beats C, too. :smiley:

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  1. Stomach acid;
  2. Enzymes;
  3. Time.
    The croc’s scales are made of keratin. Not much chitin in the vertebrate family. And given enough time, even teeth will succumb to the acid treatment, though they may also simply be smoothed, sort-of ‘tumbled’, and passed on through.
    I have no idea whether extremophile bacteria participate or not. Or whether they go along for the ride.
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There’s already a SyFy movie about this… http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1680138/

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