olivehydra said:
NCHERPS said:
Although extremely rare it has happened in the USA, a large boid , a retic from memory, constricted a mans head(Neck) whilst he was sleeping. I have no doubt he awoke before his eventual demise.
That's one example that I remember hearing about, there are a few more.
I believe that a large olive could have the size and weight is do the same, however it would have to be a large barroni to constrict the chest without the person being able to remove it, that said a child or small frail adult could also in theory be in danger from a standard large olive.
As far as Scrubs go, they are large and strong, and could do the neck or diaphram of a child for sure, a large 20 ' individual , although not carrying the weight of the Olive, is still a formidable snake, and you as an adult would have to give it respect to.
Why do you ask Olivehydra?
Cheers Neil
G'day Neil,
From what I've read, I believe the US alone has on average one death per year as a result of constriction. My interest is purely from a safety aspect of husbandry techniques. As stated, most literature relates to very big boids such as retics, burms and green anacondas. I too feel that ones neck is a vunerable point, but have often wondered how big a snake would need to be to dispatch an adult human whose neck and face is not being "hugged".
Cheers.
There was a case not too long ago in SA where they thought that a guy had been constricted by a large scrub that was loose in his appartment, but I think it was actually a case of the press making more out of it than the reality and was almost certainly false, but I didn't hear the results from the PM so don't know for sure.
As you have stated, it is something that happens alot in the US, although when put in context of how many people keep large boids in the US, that figure is not that surprising.
Too many people don't follow the simple rules when working with large constrictors, they tend to think that because they are non venomous, they aren't dangerous.
In many states in the US large constrictors are either banned or heavily licensed like the Vens for just such reasons.
In Europe a few countries have banned the keeping of certain species like retic's or anaconda's, in the UK they were talking about putting them onto the 'Dangerous wild animals act licence' along with the venomous snakes.
A friend in the UK who used to keep large green anaconda's, always made it a rule that he would not even feed or replenish water in his snakes cage unless another person was there, just in case. There were a couple of occasions where they were needed, but only a couple in decades of keeping them.
Olivehydra, How big and heavy are your Olives ?
I have a few scrubs that I hope will reach a good size, but the weight doesn't seem to be as much as an issue as with the Olives.
The other thing that you need to consider is that these large constrictors also have huge teeth, especially the scrubs, and if a large say 12+ footer bit you in the wrong place(Say on your wrist where an arterial vein was), held on and threw a few coils around your limb, then it could be serious, just another reason to have another person there when handling them.
Now, who want's to buy a young scrubbie, I have a couple for sale. LOL!
Cheers Neil