Giant snakes in the Congo

I remember seeing a show on TV years ago... Apparently during the Belgian expeditions into the Congo in the 1950s, a Belgian helicopter pilot was looking for an LZ, and was hovering somewhat low, about 15-20 feet off the ground when what appeared to be a giant anaconda surfaced and rose high enough to look the pilot eye to eye.

According to the story, the door gunner machine gunned the snake, and when they landed, they stretched it out and measured it to be close to 20 meters, or almost 60 feet in length. Being a combat patrol, no one had a camera, and all they had to prove it was thier individual reports at base.

Anyone have any information on this or similar experiences?

This is quite a well-known tale: you'll find it with background (especially on S. America where the best giant anaconda yarns originate) at www.cryptozoology.com...
In fact, photo's were taken.

And you'll find one of Captain van Lierde's snapshots here:
www.meta-religion.com...

Don't stay too long on metareligion.com, cyberchums: their heads aren't right (this is the Estragon Health Warning)

The legend dinosaurus supposed to live in the virgin forrest ?

The legend dinosaurus supposed to live in the virgin forrest ? Posted by Nans

I mentioned this on another thread about Mokele Mbembe...

Where the hell are the rest of them?

However, the main problem I see with the "long lost dinosaur" theory is, where the hell are the rest of them? Anyone who knows much about biology will know that for a specific population to exist for any extended period of time (and this would be over 65 million years!) it takes more than just one reproducing pair.



The specific size of the survivor population depends on many variables, such as proclivity for reproduction, average number of offspring, survivability, suitability of environment, longevity, ect. Therefore, a survivor population could range from dozens to hundreds. For a population to survive for 65 million years, it would take hundreds to thousands.

Then comes the question of why wasnt it discovered before? I can buy that some populations may remain unknown for extended periods, based on size of the animal, the specific environment, and its average intelligence (I personally believe that it is very possible for a survivor population of Sasquatch to exist, as they seem to exhibit considerable intelligence and live in very secluded and hard to access environments).

However, an animal this size, requiring a very sizable survivor population for that long a period, I find it VERY hard to believe they wouldnt have been found long ago. There is also the fact that Brontos had very voracious appetites: If a survivor population did exist, they would have denuded large swathes of vegetation, thereby giving themselves away. Also, I find it hard to believe that ANY population is going to exist for 65 million years without some very substantial mutation/evolution, essentially changing thier very form.

The boa constrictor
(Boa constrictor)

This species can reach 9 feet in length, sometimes being about 17 feet long. Eight subspecies of the boa differing in their colouring and size are distinguished. Ranging from Mexico to Argentine, it inhabits damp forests, sparse growth of trees, bushes, mountains. This snake habitually lives on various birds and mammals.
The boa constrictor males have a longish tail with the bulb at the base, on the sides of the anal opening there can be seen the rudiments of the hind limbs in the form of small claws. The females have a shortish tail, the claws are almost not presented.



To keep a boa constrictor, a spacious terrarium is needed, equipped with branches, shelves and a large bath. In the Zoo they are usually fed on rodents (mice, rats, hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits), chickens, quails, the young being fed once in 3-5 days and the adult - once in 8-10 days.
Ordinarily boa constrictors are viviparous, having 20 to 40 young snakes to a lay. At the beginning of their life young boas usually live on new-born mice. After the first slough the offspring grows rapidly and become adult at the age of 3-4 years.

Nans, do you have a link to this? I have never seen a snake with claws....

Estragon, I didn't know metareligion website.It's now in my favourites.

Strange site indeed.

they are little tiny claws near the back of the snake where legs would be, remnants of hind legs long gone, they are pretty pointless

I can verify that, my ball boa had the same thing. At first I thought it was mites or something equally as bad, then someone told me. It seems constrictors are the last reminents of thier species, like crocs or aligators.

[Edited on 27-4-2003 by Lurker]

Glad you like it U-P.
I just want to know how Nans knows so much about keeping boa constrictors!

*shudders*

I watched a program about a guy who hunts giant Anacondas in the Amazon. He was following up a lead from villagers who claimed a massive Anaconda was living near them.

He was knee deep in mud when he got a hold of a good sized specimen, which was not the monster he was looking for, but I guess they had to film something. Within seconds this snake, which had the girth of his leg, was wrapped around him. As he struggled to hold its neck, it opened its mouth and began to hiss. He almost lost it, and I could see terror flash in his eyes as he looked at the film crew. I�m not sure how he might have dealt with the real giant he was looking for.

As for me, I�ll stick to trout fishing � thank you very much.

I remember a special they did on Mark O' Shea on TLC or Animal Planet, something like that. He and another guy (can't remember his name) were in the amazon looking for anacondas. They came upon a mud flat that had some impressions from where snakes had come sliding through to get into the water. Well, I can tell you one of the 'trails' was huge. I mean, a person could have laid down in this trail, it was that wide. You could tell, it kind of shocked these guys. I mean a snake that wide (at least 3' ) , I would think have to be at least 40' long. After seeing that, I was a firm believer of huge (50' +) snakes.


Here is one link with some pics and sketches:

www.angelfire.com...

[Edited on 1-5-2003 by kraken]

I grew up in the bayou country where we had a great deal of water moccassins, which are very agressive dangerous poisonous snakes. These are only about 3-4 feet long, but do not need to be provoked to attack.

I can imagine what would happen with a snake 50+ in length, even if it wasnt venomous.

Originally posted by Nans DESMICHELS
The boa constrictor

The boa constrictor males have a longish tail with the bulb at the base, on the sides of the anal opening there can be seen the rudiments of the hind limbs in the form of small claws. The females have a shortish tail, the claws are almost not presented.

Actually while I was in my intro Biology course in college, we reveiwed a local news story about a guy who claimed to have killed a rattlesnake with back legs while it was fighting with another snake. In actuallity, the two snakes were mating and the two things often mistaken for "little legs" or "claws" are actually their sexual organs..according to my professor. Females have a slightly different set of sex organs than do the male..again, according to the bio prof. He seemed to really get a kick out of the whole thing.

Thought I'd post the picture for all to see, quite amazing.



The picture above was taken in 1959 by a Belgium helicopter pilot, Col. Remy Van Lierde, while on patrol over the congo. The snake he saw measured approximately 40 to 50 feet in length, dark brown/green with a white belly. It had triangle shaped jaws and a head about 3 ft x 2 ft. Experts have analyzed the pictures and have verified them as authentic. They also have verified the size of the creature by matching ground features to the snake. As the helicopter flew in lower the snake raised up 10 feet and looked as if it would strike at the helicopter if they flew any closer.




[Edited on 7-5-2003 by mad scientist]

some peaple say the pic is a pic of a worm. because thers ment to be a mushroom in the pic. but i carnt see one. so maybe its the real deal. as anybody seen this mushroom if so were the hell is it.

Kind of makes the one that was in "Conan the Barbarian" look more and more plausible only the one in the movie was much smaller. I have heard stories of giant snakes like that in the Amazon that were known for eating cattle.

Wouldn't want one as a pet that's for sure.

Monster Quest had an episode on snakes which stated that pythons and anacondas could grow to 150 in length if there was no disease or predators and a constant food supply. I would not want to run into one of those, even though they inhabit Florida and other Gulf Coast state now (anacondas and pythons not necessarily 150 footers - yet!).

Edited to add

[edit on 7/18/2008 by kidflash2008]