45 Stronger Than an Elephant

The jungles of Southeast Asia are home to one of the largest snakes in the world: the long, regal, or reticulated python. These snakes can grow to be more than 30 feet long and rank among the strongest animals in existence. A python does not, however, have powerful jaws. Actually, it catches its victims by waiting in ambush, its long, muscular body masquerading as a vine or tree trunk. When a monkey or pig comes close, the python attacks by wrapping several coils of its body around the helpless animal. Then the snake tightens the coils every time the animal breathes out, until it has suffocated its prey.

The most astonishing part of the python’s hunting method is the way in which it eats its prey. For it has no arms or legs, and its teeth, although sharp, are quite thin and delicate. The trick is that the snake can stretch its neck to many times its usual diameter; it can curve backward. Starting at the prey’s head, the python actually pulls itself over the victim by sliding one jaw forward and sinking in the teeth on that side, and using that position as an anchor to pull the other jaw forward until the entire body of its catch has been swallowed. Methodically following this procedure, pythons have been known to ingest animals as large as pigs!

45 比大象更强壮

东南亚的丛林是世界上最大的蛇类之一——网纹蟒的栖息地。这种蛇可以长到30多英尺长，是现存最强壮的动物之一。不过，蟒蛇并没有强有力的下颚。实际上，它会埋伏起来捕捉猎物，将自己长而肌肉发达的身体伪装成藤蔓或树干。当猴子或猪靠近时，蟒蛇会用身体的几圈缠住这只无助的动物发起攻击。然后，每当猎物呼气时，蛇就会收紧缠绕的身体，直到猎物窒息。

蟒蛇捕猎方式中最惊人的部分是它进食的方式。它没有四肢，牙齿虽然锋利，却十分纤细脆弱。秘诀在于，蛇可以将颈部伸展到平常直径的数倍，还能向后弯曲。从猎物的头部开始，蟒蛇会将一侧的下颚向前滑动，让牙齿嵌入猎物身体，以此为支点拉动另一侧下颚向前，直到将整只猎物吞下。按照这个步骤有条不紊地进食，蟒蛇已知可以吞下猪那么大的动物！