Pythons - Printable Version

Pythons - Printable Version

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RE: Pythons - peter - 04-14-2016

Thanks Ngala. I also read it.

RE: Pythons - Tshokwane - 04-14-2016

Exceptionally large African Rock Python slowly eating a male Thompson Gazelle that it had suffocated. Pic from 2011, credits to Governors Camp Collection.

*This image is copyright of its original author

RE: Pythons - Tshokwane - 11-21-2016

Credits to Martin Muller.

Olive python (Western Australia's largest python, Australia's 2nd largest) having a feed on an Australian freshwater crocodile (crocodylus Johnstoni ). Mt Isa Queensland .

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RE: Pythons - Tshokwane - 11-21-2016

Credits to Shani Cohen.

Reticulated Python.

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RE: Pythons - Ngala - 11-29-2016

Southern African Rock Python (Python sebae natalensis)

From Lion Sands Game Reserve:
"‘Look down’, reminds Field Guide Michael Moth. An impressive African Rock Python basks in the early morning summer sun."

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RE: Pythons - Paleosuchus - 12-09-2016

The more obscure Aspidites ramsayi predation on goannas & mammals

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https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249991563_Arboreality_excavation_and_active_foraging_novel_observations_of_radiotracked_woma_pythons_Aspidites_ramsayi

I'll update with more of my finds from the literature at a later point

RE: Pythons - Ngala - 12-09-2016

Welcome to the forum @Paleosuchus. Interesting information, thanks for sharing.

RE: Pythons - Paleosuchus - 12-09-2016

Some interspecies conflict, a large carpet python kills a fox that intended to make the snake its dinner
Another python kills a fox

*This image is copyright of its original author

"IT’S a dog-eat-dog world out there, or in the case of this bizarre animal encounter, it’s snake-eat-fox.

The jaws of the fox had to be forced open to untangle the beasts. Picture: Robert Cregan
Or is it fox-eat-snake? It’d be hard to tell if not for witness Robert Cregan, who unravelled the mystery after his son spotted the warring pair on the NSW north coast.

“It was just by the side of the road. The fox had bitten the snake on the head, looking for a meal I guess,” Mr Cregan said. “Then the snake constricted the fox.”

But with the dying fox’s jaws still clamped tightly around the 2m carpet python’s neck on Monday, each strangling coil of its body made it more difficult to escape the clutches of its would-be assassin.

“We had to prise the jaws of the fox open but when the snake sensed we were doing that it constricted the fox’s head even more,” Mr Cregan said.

“We managed to prise the fox’s jaws open and then we were able to release the head of the snake. It had a bit of a look at me and my son and we just left it where it was.” "

*This image is copyright of its original author

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/python-constricts-fox-in-epic-battle-of-nature/news-story/27eadef00c95dea73a04fbb9681e2d60

RE: Pythons - Tshokwane - 12-13-2016

Credits to Pondoro Game Lodge.

A sighting during a walking safari at Pondoro of a African rock python eating a jackal.

RE: Pythons - Paleosuchus - 12-13-2016

thought this was interesting;

*This image is copyright of its original author

from the book The Complete Guide to the Care of Macropods

Indian python with hog deer

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scrub python with pademelon inside its stomach
"The highlight over the two weeks was finding an Australian Scrub Python eating a Red-legged Pademelon, which is a small rainforest kangaroo, (not a highlight for the poor unfortunate pademelon!). When we found it on the edge of our orchard it only had the leg sticking out to identify the prey item. The python was probably 3-3.5m."

*This image is copyright of its original author

http://kingfisherparkbirdwatchers.blogspot.com/2014/04/20th-april-2014-kingfisher-park_20.html

Scrub python ate a rooster
"Pythons are known to eat strange things. Porcupines and alligators come to mind. A python in Australia decided to eat a rooster, but it seems the rooster would have got the best of the python had it not been for Dr. Nikki Tapp at Marlin Coast Veterinary Hospital in Cairns, Queensland, Australia.

*This image is copyright of its original author

The python would have probably died from an infection. The wild reptile was brought into the hospital October 26 with a puncture wound and a huge belly. The large rooster that the python ate had an equally large spur that pierced the skin of the python, from inside the python’s belly.

*This image is copyright of its original author

Dr. Nikki Tapp had to open the snake up and took a pair of surgical scissors to cut the entire foot off the rooster, leaving the rest of the rooster in the belly of the python. Tapp said on Facebook that the snake is doing well and will be released once it finishes digesting the huge bird."
http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/australian-vet-removes-rooster-foot-that-punctured-pythons-belly-trending/

Olive python eats a big bat
In the early hours of the morning, before we were up, a young and rather small Olive Python snaked her way up a tree in the Nitmiluk NP campsite, and caught a fruit bat. When I saw her she was being mobbed by greedy ravens intent on stealing her meal, and possibly even eating her too. I chased them off … a ranger appeared and agreed that the ravens would damage the python if they could.

*This image is copyright of its original author

She has her catch and is beginning the task of loosening her jaws to swallow the rather awkwardly shaped bat.

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Olive turns her head upside down to begin with. I think she is relieved that by now a group of campers have gathered around her and are keeping the pecking ravens at bay.

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Notice how Olive has squeezed the bat very tightly, an important part of bringing the meal inside her body where it can be slowly digested.

*This image is copyright of its original author

And now she has ingested the bat, whose wings stick out rather painfully from a different angle … and you can see the the ravens have been back to attack her … there are several bloody spots. What a hazardous life for a python! Soon after this photo she would begin to move back to a sheltered place, and we would be on the road to Kununurra, over 500 km away to the west. Last photo for this post, moonrise over the mini Bungle Bungles at Kununurra."
https://dadirridreaming.wordpress.com/2013/05/24/kt-day-3-olive-python-eats-fruit-bat/

RE: Pythons - Tshokwane - 12-13-2016

Awesome @Paleosuchus , they are amazing animals.

Thanks for the post, and welcome.

RE: Pythons - Paleosuchus - 12-13-2016

Thank you or the warm welcome, it is nice to be here :)

Here's some very, very cool stuff from a florida Burm -- three deer, one adut estimated at 95% of the predators mass, and two young deer.

Supersize me: remains of three white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in an invasive Burmese python (Python molurus bivittatus) in Florida
Abstract
Snakes have become successful invaders in a wide variety of ecosystems worldwide. In southern Florida, USA, the Burmese python (Python molurus bivittatus) has become established across thousands of square kilometers including all of Everglades National Park (ENP). Both experimental and correlative data have supported a relationship between Burmese python predation and declines or extirpations of mid- to large-sized mammals in ENP. In June 2013 a large python (4.32 m snout-vent length, 48.3 kg) was captured and removed from the park. Subsequent necropsy revealed a massive amount of fecal matter (79 cm in length, 6.5 kg) within the snake’s large intestine. A comparative examination of bone, teeth, and hooves extracted from the fecal contents revealed that this snake consumed three white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). This is the first report of an invasive Burmese python containing the remains of multiple white-tailed deer in its gut. Because the largest snakes native to southern Florida are not capable of consuming even mid-sized mammals, pythons likely represent a novel predatory threat to white-tailed deer in these habitats. This work highlights the potential impact of this large-bodied invasive snake and supports the need for more work on invasive predator-native prey relationships.

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http://www.reabic.net/journals/bir/2016/Accepted/BIR_2016_Boback_etal_correctedproof.pdf

RE: Pythons - Paleosuchus - 12-13-2016

Two accounts of predation i came across an a hour ago

Scrub python eats a wallaby on a golf course

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"Only in Australia: golfers reportedly looked on in disbelief as a four-metre python swallowed a wallaby at Paradise Palms golf course in north Queensland on Saturday morning. The 30-minute struggle took place in the middle of the fairway on the 17th hole. Declan McCollam, general manager of Paradise Palms, told AAP the python was harmless to humans. “The wildlife on Paradise Palms has always been an attraction for golfers, and it is clear that is well and thriving.” "
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/picture/2016/dec/13/snake-eats-wallaby-on-australian-golf-course

Six-foot python dies after trying to squeeze itself through an iron fence because it became too fat when it swallowed a large dog

*This image is copyright of its original author

"A gluttonous python died after it was stuck in a fence because it got too fat after gorging itself on a local dog.
Photos have surfaced online of a snake, spanning at least six feet, that died trapped between a metal fence in Delta State, Nigeria.
The tight iron bars squeezed the python to death, whose belly was enlarged after it had swallowed a poor dog.

The snaps were taken by Facebook user 'Hon Johnbull Cleopas', who admitted that he was frightened of the python before finding out it was already dead when he stumbled upon it.
The incident took place near his work site in the oil and agricultural producing area of south-western Nigeria

*This image is copyright of its original author

Sharing the pictures online, he said: 'Glory b 2 God Almighty... I went 2 my site dis morning 2 do little work & stumbled into dis Serpent already trapped dead in my fence... (sic)'
Mr Cleopas said he was shocked to find the huge animal and called over others to inspect the carcass.

Other images show the animal with its stomach cut open, revealing its last meal - a 'big' dog.
Mr Cleopas posted the pictures online in late July but the images of the non-venomous constrictor snake are now going viral after they recently surfaced in local news reports.
Several social media users said they felt bad for the python, explaining that it was a rather stupid way to die.
User 'Amyh Emburu' said: 'What an absurd death... Poor python! It was a big glutton, I think... '
And 'Huma Haku' added: 'It was rather a fool...'
Mr Cleopas said he called his neighbours to see the snake before burning the reptile."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4029358/Python-dies-eats-dog-tries-squeeze-body-fence.html#ixzz4SkDd6DAg

RE: Pythons - Paleosuchus - 12-17-2016

Life history trait overview for Somali rock pythons
(Source material)

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Take aways from the above

The ~9.8m figure often quoted as the largest reliable animal(See O'shea) is apparently hinged on anecdotal evidence
A 7.8m figure has been(apparently) accepted by the authors as a reliable measurement, one of the larger authenticated snakes on records if it stands
Mean total body length measurements are reported at 3m "estimations, but i hold reservations on the validity of this, as eye witness testimony and estimations are not independently reliable. However it should be noted if these do hold true, that this is around the size most animals attain sexual maturity(this will be shown later), so while they are adult animals, they are not very aged animals; you can expect a more aged animal to measure 4-5m, typically. A large animal would appear to be in the range of 5-6m, with the absolute largest measuring in excess of 7m. This of course is the size(closer to 4m mark) that they begin to focus on large bodied herbivores as a staple in their diet, as will be seen in the following.

Diet

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Growth rates & sexual maturity

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Take aways
1. As noted by the author of the article abundance of food and environmental factors will greatly affect the growth rates of young pythons, and of course size and age at maturity will vary between localities; those reported in McCurley & Glasgow showing sooner reproductive activity than those reported from Cameroon. Age at maturity and reproductive activity is very variable in sauropsida, and can vary between smaller than expected sizes or greater than expected sizes(Crocodilians pop to mind as a great example of this). It is an interesting prospect for studies.

RE: Pythons - Paleosuchus - 12-19-2016

I'll be looking into follow ups on this, exciting stuff here!
Researchers tag 'Pilat' the reticulated python to learn more about species

"KINABATANGAN: Researchers here have fitted a female reticulated python with a satellite unit last week near Danau Girang Field Centre (DGFC) here in a bid to learn more about the reptile's life in the wild. The project, which is a collaboration between DGFC and Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD), saw PhD student Richard Burger attached to the centre and Malaysian wildlife veterinarian Dr Laura Benedict from SWD's Wildlife Rescue Unit leading the collaring operation. DGFC director Dr Benoit Goossens in a statement here, said this was the first time that a reticulated python was fitted with a satellite unit. "The reticulated python is the longest species of snake in the world, widely kept in zoos and as popular pets throughout the world, yet we know so little about them in the wild. "Large pythons are very difficult to study as they are very secretive and camouflage experts, so it is very hard to find them in dense forests. "This is why we currently have no idea of their population size or density. By attaching a Global Positioning System (GPS) device we can begin to discover the secrets of how these enigmatic animals behave in their natural habitat and this is vital in making management decisions about the species in the future,” added project leader Burger. Benedict meanwhile revealed that the snake was nicknamed Pilat (meaning ‘scar’ in Dusun) and weighed 11.3 kilogrammes while measuring 3.63 metres, where it was kept three days for monitoring after its capture before successfully released where it was initially caught near the centre. "The GPS tag weighed 145 grammes and was affixed to the tail, so that it does not interfere with vital organs or movement. "As the tag is smaller than the diameter of the snake’s body, any gap that the python moves through should in theory be large enough to allow the unit on the tail to pass through as well, without getting caught in the undergrowth," added Benedict. SWD assistant director Dr Sen Nathan in the joint statement revealed that wild reticulated pythons are heavily exploited particularly in Peninsular Malaysia and Indonesia as their skins are considered a valuable commodity. He said pythons are listed under Appendix II of CITES and Schedule 2 of the Sabah Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997, meaning it was illegal to kill pythons without an official license. "This trade has seen rapid expansion in recent years. "Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) allows a quota of skins to be exported each year, but there is also a great deal of illegal leather trade activity that occurs and an unknown number of animals are also killed out of fear or for meat. "We cannot continue to remove hundreds of thousands of animals each year from their natural habitats if we don’t know anything about their ecology or population size; continual monitoring is essential for any species that is harvested in this way," added Nathan. He reminded that it was important the trade remains at a sustainable level so communities can continue to reap the financial benefits that the skin trade brings without causing the species to become endangered through a combination of over-harvesting and habitat loss.

*This image is copyright of its original author

http://www.nst.com.my/news/2016/10/184472/researchers-tag-pilat-reticulated-python-learn-more-about-species