A giant python over 26 feet (8 metres) long has been found at a construction site in Malaysia. If this reticulated python’s length and weight – about 250 kg (551 pounds) – are confirmed, it could be the new mega-snake champion in the Guinness Book of World Records. Reports from local newspapers vary regarding this latest find’s length – from 7.5 to 8.5 metres. A snake that size can swallow an adult male deer in one session.
A group of construction workers were in the process of building a flyover on Penang island, a popular tourist resort off the west coast of the Malay Peninsula, when one of them spotted the giant snake under a tree.
They immediately cordoned off the area and called the emergency services.
A Ford Fiesta 1.6 TDCi Zetec S 3door is 3.918 metres long. Two of them would be just under 8 metres in length – which would still not be enough to reach this reticulated python’s incredible 8 metres.
Reticulated python not a danger to humans
The reticulated python (Python reticulatus) is a type of python commonly found in Southeast Asia. It is widely regarded as the longest snake in the world, as well as the longest reptile. However, it is not the most heavily built – that would be the green anaconda.
Like all pythons, it is a non-venomous snake that kills its prey by wrapping itself around it and crushing it to death – it is a constrictor.
Although easily strong enough to crush a person to death and swallow him or her, this type of snake is not generally regarded as dangerous to humans – reports of attacks do exist, but are extremely rare.
Malaysia’s Civil Defence Department responded to the emergency call, came to the scene, and trapped the animal after thirty minutes.
Medusa, the current record-holder, as far as the Guinness Book of World Records is concerned, may soon be knocked into second spot. (Image: guinnessworldrecords.com)
Current record holder lives in the USA
The world’s longest snake currently recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records is also a reticulated python called Medusa. It is kept in captivity and belongs to Full Moon Productions Inc. in Kansas City, Missouri, USA.
Medusa was measured on 12 October 2011, and was found to be 25 feet 2 inches (7.67 metres) long, and weighed 158.8 kg (350 lbs) – more than 90 kg less than the one recently discovered in Malaysia.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Medusa has been known to eat a whole, 18-kg (40-lb) deer in one sitting.
If the length and weight of this latest discovery are confirmed, Medusa will become its little cousin.
A villager in Garkhuta in West Bengal, India, took a picture of this 10ft python as it wrapped its jaws around a fully grown goat after capturing the animal. Pythons kill their prey by crushing and then swallowing them. (Image: viralspell.com)
Medusa earns her keep. She is currently housed at The Edge of Hell Haunted House in Kansas City. According to her handlers, she instinctively knows when it is ‘showtime’ for patrons, and will go into a ‘performance mode’.
During showtime, she remains completely motionless so that visitors passing by can get a full glimpse of her in her current record-stretching glory.
Whether this new find will push Medusa into second spot is not clear. Medusa has the record for the longest snake in captivity. The Penang island one is a wild snake.
The giant python found in Penang island has been taken to the Southwest Civil Defence team’s office in Sungai Ara. Officers there say it will be handed over to the state Wildlife Department.
Video – Giant python captured in Penang
According to Southwest district civil defence team operations chief Herme Herisyam, it is the largest and longest python caught by the department in Penang ever.