Suffocation?

Hi all.
I was watching "the most extreme" on animal planet, and they had the anaconda on it. According to the show, Anacondas don't kill by Suffocation. Their coils are so powerful that the blood vessels of the victim burst! Do our wonderful BP's kill their prey like that, or is it purely Suffocation?

Constrictors kill by a reducing the ability of the prey to intake oxygen and preventing blood from circulating properly. The prey's death is usually the result of combination of those two things. I don't know about blood vessels bursting, but a large constrictor can squeeze its prey so hard that the blood pressure inside the animal increases to the point where the heart can not pump properly. Also, If you have ever watched a large constrictor eat,each time the animal breaths out...that is the moment when the snake constricts more.

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Originally Posted by smellati

Hi all.
I was watching "the most extreme" on animal planet, and they had the anaconda on it. According to the show, Anacondas don't kill by Suffocation. Their coils are so powerful that the blood vessels of the victim burst! Do our wonderful BP's kill their prey like that, or is it purely Suffocation?

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Technically they asphyxiate their prey, but bursting blood vessels is always a possible side effect.

-adam

I was just thinking....everything I have ever read about the mechanics of constrictor snakes always talks about the big guys. Does anyone know of article relating to the mechanics of small constrictors or Is it ok to assume it all pretty much works the same way?

Hmm..interesting. I'm just amazed of how strong they are. FASCINATING! Snakes have, by far, the most amazing muscle structure, in my opinion. You can't help but to appreciate what nature can put out there. I mean c'mon, expert swimmers, climbers, and killers, with no freakin limbs! Snakes are awesome!

I read up on this a while back. As stated above, it is a combination of asphixiation and circulatory failure, with circulatory failure usually being the one that kills first. Animals can "live" for a relatively long time w/o oxygen (a few minutes or more). Keeping snakes, I'm sure we've all seen our constrictors kill in less than a minute or so. Snakes really don't relax until the heart is no longer beating.

I think it stated that constriction causes circulatory failure and subsequent cardiac arrest. Interesting stuff.

I offered a mouse to my BP, and he killed it in 2 seconds! He was well on his way of swallowing in the 3rd and 4th second. It couldn't have been due to lack of oxygen.