Biting off more than you can chew: Attempted predation on a human by a giant snake (Simalia amethistina)
Abstract
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.
- Publication:
-
Austral Ecology
- Pub Date:
- February 2021
- DOI:
- 10.1111/aec.12956
- Bibcode:
- 2021AusEc..46..159N