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Biting off more than you can chew: Attempted predation on a human by a giant snake ( Simalia amethistina )
Author(s) -
Natusch Daniel,
Lyons Jessica,
Mears LeaAnn,
Shine Richard
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
austral ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.688
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1442-9993
pISSN - 1442-9985
DOI - 10.1111/aec.12956
Subject(s) - predation , predator , ecology , python (programming language) , biting , biology , zoology , geography , computer science , operating system
On 10 March 2014, a radio‐tracked Australian scrub python ( Simalia amethistina ) made a predatory attack on a 64 kg sleeping woman. The snake was unsuccessful, but data from our radio‐tracking programme suggest that predation attempts on oversized prey are not uncommon – even if they threaten the survival of the predator. We explore hypotheses about why snakes attempt to consume such large meals.