The Reticulated Python That Swallowed a Grandma

In October 2022, a 22-foot reticulated python in Indonesia was found to have swallowed a grandmother whole.

Pythons will usually feast on large mammals such as pigs and monkeys. But reticulated pythons are among the biggest snakes in the world and are capable of eating prey up to six times their size. This means they can eat almost anything they comes across.

A search party was initiated after the 54-year-old called Jahrah disappeared from her home in the Jambi province of Sumatra's western island.

Local people eventually came across a huge python with a bulging stomach inside a forest. They cut it open and found the woman's whole body inside.

Reticulated pythons, found widely across South and Southeast Asia, can reach enormous sizes and have a reputation for being more aggressive than others. They regularly grow on average up to 16 feet, but some have been reported to be much larger.

So how did the reticulated python do it?

How Do Pythons Swallow Large Prey?

Although such circumstances remain very rare, reticulated pythons have evolved to be able to swallow nearly anything that crosses their path.

The snakes are not venomous, but they are fiercely strong. Pythons are constricting snakes, meaning they coil around their prey to kill it. They coil around prey tighter with every breath it takes, until eventually, it dies.

"It does appear that there are some genuine cases of reticulated pythons eating humans," Graham Alexander, professor of herpetology at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, previously told Newsweek.

He said that this woman would not have been eaten alive, however.

"Typically, pythons will constrict their prey and kill it before ingesting," he said.

It is widely believed that snakes can swallow prey whole by dislocating their own jaws, but this is actually not the case.

The species can swallow prey whole as their jaws are joined to flexible ligaments, meaning they can move around victims very easily. Research from the University of Cincinnati found that they have actually evolved stretchy skin between their lower jaw. This allows the reptile to gape its mouth so wide that it can swallow huge prey. Reticulated pythons have also been known to swallow deer, and even alligators.

Once a prey item is swallowed, whole enzymes in the snake's stomach start to dissolve it over time. After eating something particularly large, pythons will not have to eat again for weeks.

Despite pythons being able to eat such large prey, it is possible for them to overestimate themselves. If a snake attempts to swallow something that is far too big, occasionally it will regurgitate the prey. If the python does in fact swallow the prey however, it may die.

This recent incident in October was not the first time reticulated pythons have swallowed humans.

Although rare, more cases have previously been documented.

In 2018, a 54-year-old victim called Wa Tiba was found inside a reticulated python, on Muna island in Southeast Sulawesi, in Indonesia, according to a USA Today report. The snake with a bloated belly was found 54 yards from where the victim's belongings were discovered, and was cut open to reveal the victim's body.

In 2017, a 25-year-old man was swallowed by a python in the West Sulawesi province.

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Correction 01/09/23, 06:16 a.m. ET: This article was updated to correct the species of snake from Burmese python to reticulated python.