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21st September 2011
A Ssssseriously Good Catch!

Would you stop to measure one of the largest snake species in the world?  Biologists exploring a remote part of the jungle in Guyana, South America did and captured an 18-foot anaconda - the longest and heaviest ever measured!  Niall McCann, a biologist from Wales was part of the group doing a survey on animals in an area never before studied by scientists.  In fact the area was so remote that many of the animals had never seen humans before and allowed the team to get really up close!

The researchers came across the giant snake when exploring the Rewa River.  Three weeks later after wrestling caiman crocodiles to take measurements and carry out studies they were feeling a bit braver.  But only a bit.  Niall McCann explained how they felt - "When you first see something of that size you just don't know how it will respond. We were very scared, we had heard innumerable horror stories of them taking people and killing them".

After twenty minutes preparing the area for the wrestle they were ready to try and capture the slithering reptile.  Anacondas are one of the longest, but certainly the heaviest of snake species known on earth.  Its scientific name is Eunectes murinus which means 'good swimmer' so the team had to make sure that the snake wouldn't escape into the river.  The snake was no easy catch as it began to stretch out its body and then coil up ready to strike.  On one of its stretches Niall McCann, who has been named a real-life Indiana Jones, jumped onto its body and kept both hands on the back of its head.  Other people jumped on and one taped up its mouth so it couldn't bite.  

The heavy animal put up quite a fight and shook everyone with its powerful ripples.  Once caught the snake was measured, weighed and then released back into the wild after becoming the longest and heaviest anaconda ever recorded by scientists.  The snake measured in at 18ft long - as long as a female killer whale, and weighed 100kg which is about the same as an elephant calf!  

Anacondas love the water and spend most of their time in rivers and ponds.  Anacondas have been known to eat animals as big as crocodiles, deer and capybaras, but also eat fish, birds and other small mammals - so they are not fussy eaters!  So how do they kill their food?  They aren't venomous but instead kill and eat their prey using a frightful method that is known as constriction.  After grabbing their prey with their large jaws the snake twists and coils itself around its prey’s body which restricts the animals breathing and slowly suffocates them.  So, the brave biologists who captured the snake certainly deserve a massive "well done"!      

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