It's big. It's strong --very strong-- and preys on everything from fish to jaguars and bulls and, on occasion, humans.
On a continent that is replete with dangerous animals, the anaconda stands out. It is non-venomous, but this hardly makes it less of an efficient instrument of death to any potential prey coming within its reach.
As a mainly aquatic reptile, it typically waits for its prey near the surface of rivers and swamps, though its "Home, sweet home" sign is also hung in tropical forests, where it can be found lurking overhead on tree limbs by river banks. It can be found --assuming somebody wants to find it-- throughout South America as well as the island of Trinidad.
Anacondas can grow to a length of up to 10 m (33 feet), with a weight of 250 kg (550 pounds) and a diameter of over 30 cm (12 inches). Females tend to be larger than males.
While charting the wilderness of South America in the early 1900's noted explorer Colonel Percy Fawcett had a run-in with, according to him, a giant anaconda. As he sailed with his companions up the Rio Negro in Brazil, the snake suddenly appeared, heading toward his boat. Though this was the shoot-foul-looking-things-first-and-ask-questions-much-later era, Fawcett needed no riverside sign or person to tell him that here was danger in his path, and this snake was by no means there to offer Fawcett and his party free evening opera tickets. A .45 rifle shot dispatched the snake but not before its death-throes had given the boat a good jostling and a capsize-scare to the crew of explorers. If they had been taking their tea at that moment, the contents would have all gone overboard into the river.
Fawcett estimated that the snake was 30 cm (12 inches) in diameter and almost 19 m (62 feet) long--which would seem to make it the longest recorded if it had been officially documented.
Though Fawcett's estimation may have been inaccurate or simply a fireside whopper, an anaconda shot in 1944 in Columbia and said to measure 11.4 m (37 and 1/2 feet) is the official record holder. This anaconda was spotted in the nearby Orinoco River by a geological survey expedition. Someone must have decided that they were in imminent danger of a surprise snake attack, and so with the overkill help of a platoon of soldiers that were on hand, the snake was subdued by a barrage of rifle fire. It took 20 men to carry the anaconda to shore, where it was then measured. It was about to be weighed, when someone shouted to the boys that they should break for lunch. To the surprise of one and all, when they returned from lunch, the snake, not dead after all, was gone, having slithered off. Those soldiers must have been bad shots.
The anaconda's favorite hunting tactic is to wait quietly near the water's edge for an animal such as a deer, pig or bird to come for a drink. Most of the anaconda's body remains submerged, while its eyes and nostrils, located on top of its head, appear above the surface. Their dull green-and-black color allows them to blend in very well with what is usually murky water.
Using its sharp teeth and powerful jaws to snatch its prey, the anaconda typically drags its victim into the water so as to drown it or, failing that, squeezes the life out of it with its coils of bodily muscle well suited for the purpose. No soft, beer-belly slacker is the anaconda. With its meal now, so to speak, on the dinner table, the anaconda will normally begin its culinary consumption at the head-end of its victim, swallowing the body whole. The snake's jaws can be extended to accommodate most any animal, including, on occasion, jaguars, bulls and even man, though this is rare. (When getting a whiff of man, it will usually leave an area. By the same token, the snake gives off its own foul, pungent musk from a specialized gland for the purpose, so the olfactory distaste between man and anaconda would seem to be mutual.)
By swallowing its victims head-first, the anaconda is not inconvenienced by any outwardly folding limbs as the food makes its way smoothly through its belly.
Anacondas digest their food very slowly and require a period of digestive rest lasting several days after taking in a large meal. Depending on the size of its prey, it will not normally eat again for several or even many weeks. During this time, weighed down as it is with its prey, it is rather slow and sluggish, at least on land, and at its most vulnerable to attack by predators.
What might you do if you were unexpectedly confronted by an anaconda -- say, tomorrow around lunch time?
The US Government Peace Corps Manual, designed for volunteers working in the Amazon Forest, purportedly offers the following advice,
which, while interesting, is regarded as an urban myth:
1. If you are attacked by an anaconda, do not run. The snake is faster than you are.
2. Lie flat on the ground. Put your arms tight against your sides, your legs tight against one another.
3. Tuck your chin in.
4. The snake will begin to nudge and climb over your body.
5. Do not panic.
6. After the snake has examined you, it will begin to swallow you from the feet end -- always from the feet end. Permit the snake to swallow your feet and ankles. Do not panic!
7. The snake will now begin to suck your legs into its body. You must lie perfectly still. This will take a long time.
8. When the snake has reached your knees slowly and with as little movement as possible, reach down, take your knife and very gently slide it into the side of the snake's mouth between the edge of its mouth and your leg, then suddenly rip upwards, severing the snake's head.
9. Be sure you have your knife.
10. Be sure your knife is sharp.
Reference: http://www.joe-ks.com/archives_may2004/Anaconda_Attack.htm.
Other articles in this series:
Piranha, Little Attacker of Humans
