The runaway hit story in HONG KONG BUZZ this year has been a piece with a horribly fascinating photo taken by hikers in Sai Kung of a Burmese python constricting and swallowing a pig. How much do we have to fear as humans from these scary creatures?
There is no record of anyone being killed by a python in Hong Kong, but a woman has been attacked. Several dog walkers have had to fight big constrictors to save pets. Two people have been swallowed whole in Indonesia in recent years. Over 30 years 16 humans have been killed by pythons in the USA, while seven of those deaths were caused by Burmese pythons in captivity.
A Burmese python attacks by using sharp, rearward-pointing teeth to seize its prey, usually by the head. In an instant it has wrapped its coils around the victim. Its muscles are strongest when constricting and every time the prey exhales it squeezes some more. Death comes in minutes from suffocation or heart failure.
In Sai Kung in 2016 a woman hiker was attacked by a 6 m snake that came out of the water and bit her leg. It dragged her into the stream. The woman called for help. Her companions pulled her out of the water. They captured the python, which was later moved from the area. The female hiker recovered in hospital from puncture wounds. There have been at least three incidents in Sai Kung in the past decade when hikers with dogs have had to fight large reptiles seeking to turn their pets into lunch.
In Indonesia last year a woman farmer was swallowed whole by a Burmese python, the same species found in Hong Kong. Such incidents are incredibly rare but it was the second in the country during a year. The 54-year-old woman disappeared while tending her vegetable garden in Sulawesi. A day later neighbours found her sandals and machete. Thirty metres away lying in the bush was a big snake with a swollen belly. The farmers killed it and slit open the belly…
Burmese pythons are one of the five largest snake species in the world, in length and weight. Individuals in the wild are on average 3.5 m long, but can grow to 6 m. The largest Burmese python on record was “Baby”. She lived in Illinois for 27 years and after she passed away Baby was measured at 5.8 m.
In Hong Kong Burmese pythons may be found near water or marshy areas. They are usually on the ground, but like climbing in trees and are good swimmers, capable of staying submerged for up to half an hour. In Hong Kong a python with a tracking beacon travelled 42 km in 24 hours including swimming across largest areas of water. A solitary species, they are seen in pairs only when mating. They breed in the spring when a female can produce 12 to 36 eggs. She remains with the eggs, wrapped around them adding warmth by twitching her muscles, until hatching. The baby pythons use a sharp tooth to bite their way out and set off looking for their first meal.
Pythons will often be found near human habitation, because of mice and rats, a good food source. They are generally afraid of people because of their high stature and will avoid humans, if they can. When handling a python it is usually recommended that multiple people do it. One person for every metre of snake. The creature’s great strength is applied when it is constricting; stretched out they can be easily controlled.
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