Giant Anacondas
The Anaconda has long since been known in scientific circles as
Eunectes murinus. The longest specimen that has been reliably recorded
is twenty-four feet. For some time, this snake was thought to be
thirty-seven and half feet long, but later investigations showed
the snake had been stretched accidentally. The creature, which had
been killed by Robert Lamon, was located in eastern Colombia in
1944.
Natives of the Amazon know of a creature, called Sucuriju gigante,
so well that they can name each of the animals specifically. The
snakes are known to grow up to at least sixty two feet in length
and some reports have them growing up to one hundred fifteen feet!
Lieutenant Colonel Percy Fawcett was exploring the Rio Abun, near
the intersection of the Rio Negro in southern Brazil, when the head
of a Giant Anaconda surfaced next to his canoe. Several feet of
the creatures back also came to break the muddy water as it moved
towards the riverbank. Without hesitation, Fawcett shot and killed
the creature with his pistol. After paddling to the shore, he found
the creature to be "a length of forty five feet out of the
water and seventeen feet in it making a total of length of sixty
two feet." The explorer also told of another species of snake,
nicknamed the "Sleeper", which is said to be black and
much larger.
Perhaps the most amazing report comes from Fort Tabatinga, on the
River Oiapoc in the Guapor territory. In 1948, the Rio de Janerio
newspaper told of a snake that came ashore and measured one hundred
fifteen feet in length. Soldiers fired at least five hundred machine
gun bullets into the beast before it finally died. After the body
was measured and photographed the carcass was pushed into the river
to avoid the horrendous stench that would be caused by decomposition.
Although the creatures seem too large to live, due to their length
and girth, some speculate it could be possible for the snakes to
exist. If they remained in the river water the buoyancy could sustain
the creature's life and counteract the effects of gravity.
Some reports give the snake's gargantuan size- but it must be noted
that snakeskins are very easy to stretch. It would be impossible,
however, for someone to stretch a skin if the snake is still wearing
it.
|