Choke snake
Boa constrictor with prey
Strangler snake is a name given to snakes that kill their prey by entwining themselves with their bodies. This is known especially with the boas and pythons , but many snakes also kill their mostly small prey in this way.
After the prey has been bitten, the snake wraps its body around it. When the prey exhales, the snake constricts the body loops, increasingly preventing the return of venous blood to the heart and breathing. Contrary to a decade-old myth, the victims do not suffocate, but rather die of cardiovascular failure . Then the prey is devoured whole.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Journal of Experimental Biology : Snake constriction rapidly induces circulatory arrest in rats, May 8, 2015, accessed July 23, 2015
- ↑ Spectrum of Science : Cardiovascular Failure Instead of Asphyxiation, July 23, 2015