If you ’ve ever found yourself surreptitiously loosening a bash buckle after going in on the all - you - can - corrode snack counter , you might have sympathy for a snake who lately became the star of a study into overindulgent snakes . The 4 - meter - farseeing ( 13 - foot ) scrub python develop to infamy after launching its tooth into the posterior of Lee - Ann Mears in the early hours of the morning . Mears , who was aware the snake in the grass was inside her family , was stunned not just by the rude wakening but also the resentment of such a modestly sized snake in essay to take down a meal it could n’t possibly finish . Inspired by the gutsy snake ’s voracious appetency , a team of researchers looked at reports of predation events where the snakes ' eyes ’ turn out to be bigger than their tum , the outcome of which were published in the journalAustral Ecology .
Reptile life scientist Daniel Natusch was the first to inform Mears of a bush python approaching her home and suggested she make certain the doors and window were closed . The snake was being tracked using a radiotelemetry equipment as part of a study to see how it move across the land . Natusch felt the warning was necessary as it was known Mears had young children at menage , but the door was go out open to tackle the heat one eve and our avid python got in . “ The snake was still latched onto my butt , ” said Mears toNew Scientist . “ I had to reach down and put my hand in its sass and jerk its teeth through the chassis to get it off . ”
The approach was unusual as while Natusch had feared the snake might go for Mears ’ children , he had n’t expected a 5 - kilogram ( 11 - hammer ) ophidian to assay and take down a 64 - kilogram ( 141 - Lebanese pound ) woman . Snake have been found in the wild to have attempted and fatally failed to burn off more than they could masticate , in the most literally meaning of the phrase , which pay back Natusch and colleague wondering why these snakes would risk their lives over a meal .
They flicked through news clippings in search of similar fib , focusing on 32 specific attacks on record , and found that scrub pythons had been report trying to take in fair game that was at least their size or grown on nine function , with three of these resulting in the snakes ’ death . on the nose why was indecipherable but it seemed to be a more common occurrence in coarse environments . While these pythons can hold up for month without food , a unspoilt repast almost always improves an animal ’s fortune of natural selection , which could explain the risk - aim demeanor . However , this benefit ceases to be a welfare when the enjoin meal causes a calamitous esophageal rift or suffocation . sideboard enthusiasts , take heed .
“ This phenomenon may be more widespread in snakes than previously think , ” wrote thestudyauthors , “ With the order of magnitude of the dispute between marauder and prey likely greatest in the large constrictor ( Boidae , Pythonidae ) .
“ In some cases , the Hydra may only see part of the whole prey item . Once the ophidian impinge on the quarry , its natural feeding response ensues even if the fair game particular is too great to wipe out . ” This could explain how Mears came to be on the bill of fare that fateful Nox , as the snakes perhaps only saw a ramification and subsequently realized its error once the feast had already begun . The paper is titled , “ Biting off more than you may chew . ” A very clever statute title indeed .
[ H / T : New Scientist ]
