Anacondas are known for eating a wide variety of large prey, including everything from fish and birds to wild pigs.
So, when a couple of guys came across this dead anaconda, the swollen belly wasn’t very surprising. Well, it wasn’t very surprising until they cut the snake open and discovered what he had for his last meal.
Finding a snake with a swollen belly isn’t uncommon. In fact, if you take a moment to look online, you’ll find plenty of stories of snakes found with large, bloated stomachs. Though, typically the mystery meal turns out to the typical prey.
They’ll basically eat anything that can fit through its mouth. There have even been a few cases of anaconda that have eaten jaguar.
But, the majority of their diet is comprised of birds. They hunt along the streams and marshes, looking for birds that wade through the water.
These snakes also tend to be solitary animals. They pretty much spend all their time by themselves, drifting through the water.
This particular anaconda was discovered by two guys near a swampy area. The snake was already dead when they came across it. They noticed the large stomach, assuming it had eaten a large animal.
Still, their curiosity got the better of them. Apparently one of the guys had a large knife handy. So, they proceeded to cut the snake open.
From the photos obtained, it appears to be fairly long. They average about 20 feet in length and can weigh over 500 pounds. The green anaconda is the largest snake in the world.
You may wonder how an anaconda can capture a massive prey, such as a jaguar – or even a human. While an anaconda can coil around their prey and squeeze them, they start with a strike using their head.
The anaconda can open his jaws way beyond the capabilities of any other animal. They attack with their head, opening their mouth large enough to swallow their prey.
Some doubt whether an anaconda can actually swallow an adult human. The truth is that their jaws can open wide enough to swallow animals even bigger than humans.
Due to their size, you’d assume that an anaconda couldn’t move very fast. On land, this is true. They are pretty slow on land. But, they can really pick up the pace when they are in the water.
They spend most of their life in the water or in nearby swamps and marshes.
They’ll float in the water, looking for prey. They keep their snout up, to sense nearby animals.
Once they find an animal to attack, they strike with their jaws. Then they coil.
While anacondas are capable of eating people, this is incredibly rare. There have only been a handful of reports of these giant snakes consuming a person.
The main reason why you don’t hear about cases of anacondas eating people is that they don’t happen often, due to the fact that anacondas live in areas where locals don’t often visit.
But, as with any wild animal, they can be found.
There are random encounters, such as this particular story, with the two guys about to cut the snake’s stomach open.
So, did they end up finding a person inside?
No, it wasn’t a person. As mentioned, those cases are rare.
Where exactly did these two guys find this snake? Actually, the exact location wasn’t mentioned. But, we do know that they’re native to South America – east of the Andes.
They are primarily found in Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Venezuela, Paraguay, and Ecuador.
So, somewhere near a swampy location in South America, these two guys found a snake and decided to cut it up.
As you can see from the photos, the belly is really bloated.
It took a while for them to cut through this snake. Probably measuring at least 15 to 20 feet, this looks like a good-sized anaconda.
At least, it is easy to determine where the contents of the stomach are located. Due to the bulge, it doesn’t take long to decide on the right spot to start cutting.
As they slowly peel away the outer skin and begin to reveal the last meal, what do you think they found? As mentioned, it wasn’t a person. And, it wasn’t any of the typical prey. Instead, they found…
After cutting open the stomach of this massive anaconda, these two guys discovered another snake.
That’s right, the anaconda had eaten another anaconda before dying. And, it wasn’t a male anaconda after all. It was a female anaconda that had eaten a younger male anaconda.
The exact reason isn’t known. Though, this cannibalism is known to happen sometimes. Some believe it’s a matter of convenience.
The idea is that a female anaconda may occasionally eat a male anaconda if they’re in the same area, simply because they can.
So, the dead snake contained another snake, like Russian nesting dolls. Except, this snake was nearly as long as the other one.